Cleaning Crew
by Ssharpee
Summary: "The moral of this story is that no matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it... some stories just don't have a happy ending" -Jodi Picoult, At least that's how Jesse felt in the beginning? What or whom can change her mind? eventual Stiles/OC, starts end of season 1
1. Before the Storm

_Dear Little voices in my head that I'm venting to in the written form,_

 _"Today I won the 400-meter relay! Meaning that I, Jesse Vital, am going to the championship meet two towns over! I can't wait to tell Mom and Dad!"_

Jesse Vital quickly scribbled in her old journal while ignoring her teacher in her last class of the day. She had a swim team meet earlier that morning and was officially the first freshman to go to the championships in over twenty years. She put her journal away in her bag and went back to what she had originally been doing and stared at the clock watching the seconds tick by as they counted down the moments to when she could rush out of there and get on her rusty moped and race home to tell her Mom and Step-dad.

Jesse had never met her real father; her mother was still pregnant with her when her father was killed in the line of duty. He was a cop, a deputy to the sheriff, and his best friend is the current Sheriff of Beacon Hills. Her mother remarried when she was four years old to a really great guy named Daniel. Jesse thought of him as her Father and therefore called him so, never forgetting who her father was. Not that she had a choice since her mother had his picture in almost every room of their small home, and Sheriff Stilinski himself would stop in to check on his old partners' family every now and again.

Trina Vital, Jesse's mother ran her own business out of their garage. It was a cleaning service, and yeah Jesse hated that her mother reinforced the Hispanic stereotype of being a 'cleaning lady', but her mother's business was very popular and they did ok for themselves. Sometimes when the hospital was short staffed on the cleaning crew, they would call her mother and they would clean the hospital at night. Trina would hire a lot of high school students and Hispanic retired residents of Beacon Hills.

Daniel was a broker at a bank, that's where he met Trina and Jesse. He fell in love with Jesse as much as he had with her mother. Dan, knowing how close the Vitals were to the Stilinski's, made sure to get his approval of the Sheriff before asking Trina to marry him. He was the one who first introduced Jesse to surfing and swimming. They would occasionally take trips to the coast and go surfing at Dan's "secret spot". Hence why Jesse was so excited to tell him when she got home, sure she could text him but she wanted to see his face of shock and then let him spin her around their living room in joy. Jesse always protested being picked up but secretly loved it.

 _Dear little voices,_

 _"The second I got home I ran inside and tripped over my own feet trying to find mi Familia. When they walked out of the kitchen wondering what the commotion was, I told them my news from the floor with a huge shit-eating grin on my face. My got all teary-eyed and wailed in excitement while Dad picked me up off the floor into a hug and spun me around as we laughed. He told me he was so proud of me as he put be back down. "That calls for it! We are going surfing this weekend! You, me, the waves, and the stars" I was so excited doing my happy dance that I almost missed my mom saying that we are not allowed to go night-surfing with it still being too cold out."_

Jesse, Daniel, and Trina all packed up and drove the two hours to the cost to Daniel's "secret spot" and camped out of the back of the van so there was heat seeing as it was winter in California. In the morning while Trina was cooking breakfast Daniel and Jesse walked the coast looking for sea glass for Trina's wind-chimes that she made. After breakfast, the whole family went out for a morning wave. They came back in for lunch then Jesse and Daniel went back out while Trina worked on her latest windchime made of wire and sea glass. Eventually, Trina called them in so they could make the drive back home while there was still some sunlight left. Jesse and Daniel hung their wet suits in the back of the van and slept on the drive back.

The meet was on Friday and the Winter formal was that night. Jesse wouldn't typically go to dances but her friend Erica wanted to go, and Jesse would be damned if she let her only friend get teased at a dance while she was all alone with no one to distract her. Jesse and Erica were each other's best friends and planned on keeping it that way. Jesse wasn't antisocial or anything, she talked to a lot of people, but she was fiercely protective of the epileptic girl. She wasn't sure if she would consider Stiles her friend seeing as the only time they hung out is when they were babysat together when they were kids or at the holidays when their, then broken, families would combine. Her best friend also happened to have a huge crush on Stiles but couldn't muster up the courage to talk to him; not that the spastic boy made it easy to talk to him.

Her mother made her dress for her and Jesse, being the nerd that she is, wore her favorite heels… her only pair of heels. Jesse has a huge thing for fairytales, the original versions, Grimm versions, Disney versions, all of them she loved fairytales. Which is why her heels were a metallic gold color with butterfly/fairy wings on the back by her ankle. They were her statement piece with her simple dark blue dress. Erica's mom dropped her off at Jesse's house where the two girls got ready, and packed Erica's bag in case of an attack.

Before the two girls left, Trina made them pose for pictures. Daniel laughed at the girls' silly faces and poses before deciding he wanted in on the fun and started posing with them. Suddenly, Daniel dropped to his knee and pulled out a ring and presented it to Jesse that made her giggle. It was made of the sea glass stones they had collected the past weekend. Jesse put it on hugged Daniel goodbye before Trina drove the girls to the dance.

 _Dear sentient diary to whom I disclose the important things to,_

 _"Erica looked absolutely beautiful tonight, I wish I had a camera to take a picture of the girl in front of me, she was so happy and more confident than usual. It made that dance almost worth going to. Daniel, the stupid sap made me a ring from a welded piece of my mom's gold wire and the sea glass we found together… I love it."_

The girls were nervous as they entered the school prepared for the teasing, Jesse was fully prepared to use her heels as a deadly weapon on anyone who ruined her friend's night out. The girls began enjoying the decorations and after a lot of persuading left their seat at a table and danced to a few songs. Towards the end of the night the dance was ended prematurely because there was an animal attack. Jesse and Erica begrudgingly grabbed their coats to leave

"Of course it would be Lydia-freaking-Martin, it always has to be about her" Erica said moping while the two girls waited for their ride. Jesse put her arm around Erica's shoulders in comfort.

"But you had fun in the mean-time right?" she asked. Erica smiled and looked back up at her friend from where her head was previously resting on her shoulder. "Good, cause I do not get dressed up for nothing" Jesse joked trying to improve her friend's mood. After about an hour the girls were once again getting agitated.

"Where is your mom?" Erica asked.

"I don't know, maybe there's a lot of traffic with the animal attack and all?..." Jesse guessed as they were one of the last few people left to be picked up.

"Jesse!?" she heard her name called. Jesse looked over to see the Sheriff walking over to her with a serious face.

"Hey Sheriff, crazy about that animal attack huh?" she said in greeting.

"yeah, is Lydia ok?" Erica asked. Jesse sent her a look before rolling her eyes at her friend who just wanted to see if she would be rid of her competition for Stiles' attention. Jesse looked back at the Sheriff and the smile fell from her face.

"Sheriff?" she asked, he was looking at her sternly. Not angry, but sympathetic.

"Chloe I'm going to be giving you and your friend a ride home tonight" the sheriff told her. Chloe screwed her eyebrows together.

"Why? My mom should be here in a bit, she's just taking longer than usual" Jesse informed him. He was probably just trying to be nice, and wanted her away from a recent animal attack; which had been happening a lot around town lately.

"Your mom called me and told me to give you and Erica a ride, She's busy at the hospital" he told her. Jesse's mom got last minute calls to work at the hospital every now and then so this wasn't out of the ordinary. Sheriff Stilinski led the two girls to the police cruiser to where Stiles was already sitting in the front seat impatiently waiting for his dad.

"Come on Dad! We need to get to the Hospital to check on Lydia" he pleaded like a small child. Jesse and Erica climbed into the back of the car, Jesse rolled her eyes at Stiles as Erica went silent and stared at the boy.

"Stiles, will you calm down! We need to drop off Erica first then we will go to the hospital. Alright!?" he told his spastic son to pacify him. Stiles huffed and slumped in his seat in acknowledgement to his father's request.

"Hi Stiles" Jesse said in a condescending/playing tone. With out turning fully around Stiles glanced back at her

"Hi Jess" before facing back forward to bounce his leg as his father drove the speed limit.

"So Erica, were do you live?" the Sheriff asked. Erica was still dumbstruck that she was in the same car as her crush, Jesse smiled and nudged her friend in the side.

"N4956 green way, it's by the industrial park" she said in a croaky voice. Jesse suppressed a giggle at her friend as the Sheriff just nodded and began taking them to Erica's house. Once Erica was dropped off they finally began their trek to the hospital where Stiles only became more jittery.

"You could've said hello to my friend Stiles" Jesse said to break the silence of the police cruiser. Stiles turned to look at her in confusion then shrugged and turned to face back forward. Jesse rolled her eyes and smiled. If Stiles had spoken to Erica, she would've surely had a seizure of pure joy.

They arrived at the hospital, Stiles didn't even wait for the cruiser to be in park before he hopped out and ran inside. Jesse chuckled at him before letting the sheriff open the back door for her to get out as well.

"Why couldn't you have just taken me home as well?" Jesse asked the Sheriff. He looked down at her with that sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Because I figured you would want to be here" he told her. Jesse scrunched her brows up at him before they entered.

"Why would I want to be here to watch my mom clean?" Jesse questioned the seemingly moronic situation she was in.

"Your mom isn't cleaning Jesse" the Sheriff informed her and Jesse froze.

 _Dear stupid little voices,_

 _"_ _Last night Daniel died…. It was a car accident. His fucking boss called him in for the night shift. My mom was able to say goodbye. The last words I said to him were "pick up some peanut butter so we can have PB &J"… how fucking dumb is that?! I don't have a Dad again…. I feel like I'm drowning"_


	2. The Aftermath

_Dear Book,_

 _"It has been 12 days since Daniel had died and mi Madre says I need to go to school today. Sheriff Stilinski has come over a few times to check on us. Erica has come over a few times as well. They both have kept me up to date on what is happening with School, the random animal attacks, and Daniel's case. Apparently, since Lydia has gone missing no one even knew that my dad died… I'm thankful that I won't be getting any pitying looks but still… I remember Erica's comment on "of course it's Lydia freaking Martin". I'm aware that I've distanced myself from everyone, which I know is what I shouldn't be doing but I can't help it. I still feel like I'm drowning"._

Jesse hadn't left the house since the night of the dance, she hadn't gone to school or to swim team practices. She had shut herself in her room with her books into which she would escape reality. She would often skip meals and bathroom breaks to avoid life itself.

She had decided to venture into the real world a little after Erica's second visit, where there wasn't as much crying, and went online into different social media sites to see what she had missed… not much. A lot of gossip about Lydia freaking Martin, and some Issac Lahey kid who was arrested for murdering his father. She had to leave that sight and went to twitter where, on a whim, started an account. She decided to make her anonymous account all about literary quotes that "spoke to her". Within a matter of two days of posts Jesse was shocked to find that half of the high school followed her cyber-alter ego of literary wit. She didn't tell anyone it was her, not that she had many to tell, and her profile said nothing other than that she was resident of Beacon Hills, CA. She wasn't sure why she wouldn't tell even Erica about this, it was another escape for her and another way of distancing herself from really connecting with people... but it helped. Having to concentrate your thoughts into a limited amount of characters was a creative outlet for her that her peers apparently found camaraderie in. Even Lydia freaking Martin followed her.

Jesse and her mother had both finally decided to go through Daniel's stuff and sell what they could, then donate the rest. They sold Daniel's car to a junk yard, Trina offered it to Jesse first so she wouldn't have to ride around on her moped but Jesse liked her rusty scooter over Daniel's outdated pick-up. The small family then donated his clothes to the salvation army, aside from a few select pieces that they couldn't part with. They decided to clean off this desk and dispose of all his documents. After 12 trash bags of waste paper, 7 bags of clothes, 5 breaks to breathe through it, and 2 boxes of Kleenex was the house was again clean and purged of the reminders of Daniel; aside from his Picture on the wall next to her father in almost every room of the house. Looking at their pictures on the wall made a sense of jaded heartbreak come over Jesse in the fact that every man she had ever loved had died.

It was at this time that Jesse realized that they were back down to one income. Without Daniel's contribution to their bills things were going to be tight. Jesse told her mom that tomorrow she would go to school and after swim practice, she would help her mom with work. It was to help bring in more customers for their family business, her entire paycheck would go back to her mom aside from gas money to fill her scooter every once in awhile. It was also a productive reason get her out of her room for something other than just school.

Jesse's first day back at school she wore a comfortable grey sweater and sunglasses to hide her red eyes. Jesse had decided to wear them after looking in the mirror before leaving on her rusty moped that her eyes were dull and glassy looking. She put her shades on to block out the haters, and her signature leather coat with a hood. Her face was sufficiently hidden. Erica found her and gave her a hug while she was at her locker. Jesse told her that she would see her in their last class of the day, their only class together.

Before Jesse could even make it to her first class she was stopped by the guidance counselor, Ms. Morrell, to come talk to her about ther step-father passing either before or after school. " _Fat chance_ " were Jesse's exact thoughts before responding with her excuses of working after school to help her mother out with the business. Ms. Morrell, becoming oddly strong willed to talk to her then made Jesse make an appointment to see her during her free period before letting her get to her class. Jesse walked in late which made everyone stare at her as she had to make her excuses to the teacher about Ms. Morrell before taking her seat. She really didn't want everyone to know that there was something wrong, and now they heard it from her own mouth.

Jesse went through the motions in her classes, after of course collecting all her late work that she had missed… there was a shit-ton. While in her fifth hour class a representative speaker came in to talk to the class about the photography club, it was free, and they would supply lessons and cameras. There was a photography showcase at the end of the year and the winner would receive a scholarship and entrance at an art gallery in town where dealers often visited and discovered new talent. Chloe took a flyer seeing it as another outlet for possible creative juices as well as pent up emotions.

At Lunch, Erica tried to talk to her but Jesse was nearly unreachable on her phone as she was using her new coping mechanism of her literary alter ego. "I still find each day too short for all the things my heart wishes to accomplish" is what she was posting when she was brought back to reality by Erica packing up her lunch quickly.

"Where are you going?" Jesse asked sounding honestly, a little pathetic.

"If you had been paying attention even a little, you would've heard that in gym class coach is making us climb a rock wall and I'm freaking out" Erica said a little too loudly causing a few people to look over. Jesse was frozen, stunned at her sudden anger. "I know your Dad died, I get it, you're sad but we still need you here Jesse, you can't just check out" Erica said before storming away from their table. Jesse watched her disappear out of the cafeteria before diverting her eyes back down at her untouched food and cell phone. She refused to look around and see all those faces staring at her, she clenched her jaw and pulled her sunglasses out of her bag and put them back on before going back to her phone. "Stay away from negative people, they have a solution for every problem" she retweeted before getting up herself and going to the bathroom to breathe.

What she didn't notice when she refused to meet the gaze of her fellow peers after Erica basically outed her pain; was Stiles throwing her his own pitiful look. He was there when she had learned about her step-dad dying and he hadn't said one word to her. Yeah, there were other way more terrifying things going on but it still sucks to lose someone. He had grown up with her and he didn't say a damn thing to her when her father figure was ripped away from her for a second time in her life.

Jesse skipped her next class to go find coach and talk to him about swim team. She walked into the gym to see Erica hiding in the back of the crowd that was surrounding the newly installed rock climbing wall. Erica refused to respond to Jesse's weak wave before she reached coach. As she tried to talk to him through his yelling all she could get out of him was

"I'm sorry, you've missed a week of practices before championships… I can't let you compete". That stung a bit but Jesse was expecting something along those lines of an answer.

"I understand, actually I'm here to tell you that I'm quitting the team" Coach stopped yelling to turn and look at her incredulously.

"Vital, just because you can't compete this one time doesn't mean you have to quit". Jesse closed her eyes and sighed trying to hold back her tears

"I know, I have to go work with my mom to help cover the bills so I won't have time… we probably wouldn't be able to afford it anyway" she told him. She opened her eyes to look up at coach to see him sigh with a look of pity crossed his features… She hated that look.

"Well the team and I are gonna miss you kid, you were one of my best swimmers" he patted her on the shoulder before turning back to the class and yelling "What's going on here?" Jesse took a deep breath and turned to see whom coach was yelling at to see Erica frozen stiff on the climbing wall with Stiles just climbing down. _Oh no!_ Jesse thought as she registered everything that was happening. Erica had told her she was scared shitless to do this, then on top of that she was in front of a huge crowd of people, and with her crush no doubt…. This was going to end badly.

"Coach you know she's epileptic" a girl said to coach trying to be discreet. Jesse glanced at the girl ready to protect her friend but was surprised with the girls worried glance. Her name was Allison Argent if Jesse recalled, she was new this year. Allison was dating Scott McCall, best friend to Stiles and has therefore been forced into hanging out with him a few times when they were all younger. Allison was also caught up in all the rumors about her aunt being a psychopathic killer or something. Jesse recognized the dead eyes of recently losing someone and lost some of her edge of immediately hating her due to her affiliation to Lydia freaking Martin, whom she hated through her affiliation with Erica. Jesse looked back up at her friend, her throat clenching shut in panic as she watched her friend start to seize-up.

"Erica! Come down" Jesse called out walking forward no longer giving a fuck about other's seeing her. Erica seemed to respond to her voice over the others as she attempted to come down from her panic and the wall.

"that's it, take your time" Jesse encouraged, she could tell Erica wanted to say something but was still shivering. Jesse guessed she probably wanted to say something along the lines of " _don't condescend me Vital"._ Unfortunately, she lost control and fell off the edge. Jesse let out a scared cry for her friend rushing forward but was beaten to the catch by Scott McCall. Jesse came to his side as he let her down slowly. Jesse made sure everyone stayed away and gave her some space while trying to tell Erica she was there for her. Eventually, Erica calmed down and sat up and locked eyes with Jesse. Jesse gave her a weak smile relieved that her friend was ok before the taunts started. Erica got up and walked out of the gym as Jesse tried to follow her but felt a hand on her shoulder. Jesse shrugged it off quickly, not prepared for the unfamiliar touch to turn and see Stiles of all people, standing there with a look of shock at her sudden turn.

He wanted to tell her he was sorry about Erica, sorry about her dad, sorry for being a shitty friend _if that's what they were_. But before he could say anything they both heard sniggering behind them coming from a few boys who were laughing at a video of Erica seizing on the floor. Jesse gritted her teeth before brushing passed Stiles and walking over to the boy with the phone and slapping it out of his hands and letting it crash and shatter on the floor. Stiles watched on as his usually cool, calm and collected childhood friend verbally bitch slapped a jock that was twice her size before coach stepped in and separated them. Jesse rolled her eyes before walking out of the gym. Stiles looked for her after school when he noticed her old scooter wasn't parked in front of the school so she must've left school early, he didn't blame her.

 _Dear Dumb Diary,_

 _"I feel like shit after what happened to Erica in gym class today. She was right about not cutting reality off completely, its just hard to talk to people right now when all they do is disappoint... I guess i've been pretty disappointing myself. I just hope that she'll talk to me tomorrow so I can tell her. Today I quit the swim team… Daniel would be so disappointed but I think he would understand my motivations. I haven't told mom yet but I'm sure she'll eventually appreciate the help with work. I cut school early today and went to the local convenience store for god knows what just trying to calm down after that dip-stick Greenberg recorded Erica. I ended up buying those stupid glow-in-the-dark star stickers that you stick on your ceiling when you're ceiling when you're a kid. I don't know why but when I got home I immediately put them on my ceiling and closed the blinds and stared up at them until mi mama came home hours later. I just can't seem to stay afloat for longer than a few hours at at time."_


	3. The Change

_Dear Diary,_

 _"Holy shit something happened to Erica over night because she got hot! I didn't see this puta all morning and then BAM! At lunch when I was being a total loner she come prancing in with this new look and confidence that stunned half of the cafeteria! Puta came right up to me and ate my apple off my tray and winked at me before prancing back out like she was one of those runway models. Later I met up with her in the hallway and complemented her look but something was off… something must be in the water because everyone seems to be moving on and getting out while I'm still wading through the deep end struggling to catch my breath"._

After Jesse's interesting school day Jesse attended her first photography club meeting where they welcomed their new recruit, just her, and then brought up the fact that there was a photography contest where the winner would have their work showcased in a gallery; and for some reason Jesse got a strong urge to win. With this new found motivation Jesse finished as much of her homework, and late work, as possible in her study hall before going home. When she walked outside to go to her rusty scooter she watched Erica get into a shiny new black Camaro with a rather ruggedly handsome man driving it. _What has Erica gotten herself into?_ Jesse asked herself as she glanced down at her rusty moped before heading home.

Once she got home Jesse tried to come with ideas of a photography series to enter in the contest. She was stumped… that's when Erica of all people showed up at her house to have a girl's night. Jesse admitted that she missed her and tried to ask her what was going on and what had happened between yesterday and today but Erica refused to tell her saying it was better for her to stay out of it. _For now…_ Jesse thought as she dropped the subject temporarily to focus on using her new motivation, and newly 'hot' friend to win this photography contest.

Erica was more than happy to model for her photos and the girls had fun like nothing had changed between them. It got dark out and Jess had the brilliant idea to use sparklers as ideas. The photos that Jess had rented from the school turned out great and almost romantic looking. But Chloe's favorite one was a close-up of the sparkler at its end and Erica's unfocused face illuminated in the background.

The rest of the weekend Jesse spent as much time as she could with her mom as they both, for the first time talked about Daniel. Trina admitted that they were behind on bills and that she may need to cut back hours and even fire a few employees for the time being just to stay afloat. Jesse told her mom that she quit the team so she could help out. Her mother was furious at first because of what the swim team meant to Jesse and Daniel but eventually huffed and apologized for their circumstances. Jesse told her she was happy to help the family business because it's what family's do. They had a nice dinner together where Jesse told her mom all about the 'free' photography club and how she wanted to enter a contest. Trina was a first apprehensive about Jesse joining in this club after hearing about the college scholarships

"What are you going to do with a degree in art or photography? How are you going to pay the bills? I don't want you to live the way we do now where you have to tell your nina that they can't do sports because you can't afford it". The two continued to argue over Jesse's choice in an outlet until it was time for Jesse to go to bed. Jesse went upstairs and was looking through her pictures on the camera when her mom came up to tuck her in.

"Mi amor, I'm sorry for not supporting your photography but I just want what is best for mi nina pequeno" she said sitting on the bed next to her daughter trying to see at what her daughter was looking at. Daniel was the one who always used to come up and comfort her after she got into an argument with her mother, now it was just them and they were all each other had. Begrudgingly, Jesse showed her mother her pictures she had taken with Erica.

"Mi nina, these are really good" her mother told her and Jesse tried to hide the grin on her face as she mumbled a thank you. Trina smiled at the fact that she and her daughter finally had something in common that was artistic before she kissed her on the forehead and headed down the stairs to her room.

"Oh, and Jesse? I've decided that you can help out with the business but not too much, school is still more important" Jesse looked over at her mom and gave a weak smile before nodding. "You will be taking one of my houses off my hands during the week, and on weekends you will clean the Williams' and Chavez's houses, alright?" she told her daughter. Jesse smiled before asking

"Quien la casa durante la semana?" her mother smiled at her use of native language before answering. "la casa del Sheriff," her mother said as she continued down the stairs.

"What?!" Jesse called after her mother wondering if she had heard what was said correctly. "You want me to go to the Stilinski's? Mama!?" Jesse called again but her mother was already down the stairs and ignoring her. Jesse knew that this was just a way to keep her out of trouble and safe from all the weird animal attacks and murders that had been happening. Jesse rolled her eyes before laying down and going to bed, just accepting her fate as is.

The next morning Jesse woke up to her mother already gone to work and Jesse found a uniform waiting for her that read on the back "Vital Housecleaning" which was a punny play on their name meaning 'life' in Español, pronounced 'vee-tall', and the English word 'vital', pronounced 'vy-tle', meaning 'important'. The pun in fact that went completely over Trina Vitals' head which made it that much better. Daniel had tried to explain the joke to her numerous times. Trina just wanted her last name and the business like other companies had done. Jesse smiled at the fond memory before grabbing the garment and eating a quick breakfast before heading off to school and her first day of work.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _"I have realized that as much as I needed to skip those classes yesterday, I is still biting me in the ass. I have so much late work I have to try and decipher and hand-in while also try and catch up during class on what we're currently talking about. I stay up late at night trying to understand what the hell I'm doing on these assignments, then when I vaguely grasp the main concept I come into class and it's like I'm hit with a wall… I just can't seem to catch up. Ms. Morrell keeps on trying to get me to come to her office but I need all the time I can get to finish this stuff. Plus, I don't want to talk about it; I'm grieving and getting through it so with what little healing I have done with my broken heart will just get ripped back open by talking about it… with an intense stranger no doubt. I went to second meeting of photography club where I met a potential friend! Her name is Abigale, Abby for short, and she's a year older than me but seemed cool enough. She offered to show me the ropes on how to use a camera sometime! It's nice talking to someone again… Erica was MIA in our last class, our ONLY class together today… what is going on with her? My first day of working for 'Vital Housecleaning' wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did however, walk in on Stiles passed out on his bed while vacuuming… He looked rather peacefully compared to his usual 'inquieto' self. When he woke up he jumped so high and scared both of us half to death. We eventually laughed it off and actually talked to each other for a bit. He said that he was at the ice skating rink with Scott, Allison, and Lydia freaking Martin. He asked about why I was cleaning his house and for some ungodly reason I told that spastic idiota the truth, he just got this weird twitchy vibe about him before apologizing about not saying anything earlier and offered his condolences."_

Once Jesse was finished with cleaning she headed home so she wouldn't have to endure another awkward encounter with Stiles. A few hours later her mother got home and asked her how things went on her first day working in the family business.

"It was good Mama" was all Jesse said leaving out the awkward part where she woke a slumbering Stiles, she hadn't heard him come home and go upstairs in the four hours she was there cleaning.

"Bueno!" her mom called from the kitchen where she immediately began making a small dinner, she was always hungry after work. Jesse was up in her room on her literary twitter account posting a quote she found while still thinking of Stiles, "I don't understand your specific kind of crazy, but I do admire your commitment to it".

Over the weekend the Vital household was empty as the two females were out working for most the day, when they were home Jesse was working on her ever-growing pile of school work while Trina was working on work schedules and payrolls for her employee's.

At school Jesse finally saw Erica and tried to talk to the girl but she seemed a little too on edge, Jesse figured it was PMS or a side effect of whatever she was taking for this complete persona change. At lunch Jesse tried to talk to her again but Erica was busy flirting with all the guys that walked by before deserting her completely to go talk to some buy that sat alone and whom she couldn't remember ever talking to, _Boyd?_ She thought his name was. Erica had made this huge fit about her not checking out of reality and Erica has gone and just made a complete alternate one where she was hot and popular and Lydia Martin looked on at her in jealousy… after that epiphany Jesse understood why Erica was doing this. She understood her friend's history of pain and neglect and wanted to feel wanted… Jesse wanted her friend to feel as happy as she did their night at the dance so she wasn't going to stop her from acting or dressing how she pleased. That didn't mean that she was going to just sit by and not worry about her radical attitude change. While sitting in their last class Jesse again tried to ask Erica was she was doing Erica finally snapped and whipped her had around to send her a dangerous look that Jesse had never seen on her usually meek friend before… it honestly scared her a bit.

"Why do you care Jesse? Just drop it and go back to your dark room and distance yourself from reality. Don't you judge me for finally standing up for myself and not being 'seizure girl'." Jesse blinked in shock at her friend speaking at her like this. She was so used to having to defend Erica that seeing her so independent and lashing out hurt Jesse; she felt irrelevant in her friend's eyes.

"I'm just worried about you, that's what friends do" Jesse defensively whispered back at her friend. Erica rolled her eyes before shaking her head annoyed.

"Well stop worrying about me before you get yourself hurt" Erica said facing forward beginning to ignore her. Jesse was taken aback at what her best friend had just said to her. Sure, the girls had fought but this felt like Erica was breaking up with her.

"What?!" Jesse asked with the unmistakable crack of sadness in her voice. Erica, without looking at her responded

"There are things out there that you don't know about Jess, go back to your books and hide, stay out of it" Erica told in finality before the bell rang cutting off their conversation and what felt like their friendship. Jesse stared after her friend in confusion and despair as Erica strutted out of the room.

Chloe eventually left her last class of the day and went to the photography club meeting where the art teacher spoke of capturing an emotion that without any description someone could relate to it. It was their 'assignment' then to go out and capture a moment or picture that could symbolize an emotion. After their meeting was done Jesse talked to Abby for a bit before heading to the Stilinski's for work. She had done all the windows, not surprised to find hind print smudges on both sides of Stiles' bedroom window, and was just starting in the kitchen when the landline rang. Jesse felt it was probably alright to answer so she hesitantly picked up

"Stilinski residence" she answered.

"Jesse? It's John" said the Sheriff and Jesse relaxed into her less professional telephone voice.

"Oh, Hey John what's up?" she heard someone else talking in the background before the Sheriff answered

"Sorry, I didn't have your cell phone to reach you and was hoping you'd still be at my house" he Sheriff said to her before continuing. "Stiles got into some trouble at the mechanic's and witnessed a murder" said the Sheriff matter of factly. Jesse gasped in shock at the bluntness of the situation.

"Dios mio! Is he ok? Stiles I mean, is Stiles ok? Obviously not the other guy cause he's… well… not" Jesse finished realizing that she was babbling. She heard the Sheriff chuckle over the line before answering

"Stiles is fine, I was just wondering if you could give me a call when he got home? He likes to tale detours when I tell him to go home every time he shows up at one of my crime scenes" Jesse smiled knowing how nosey Stiles is with his father's police work.

"No problema Sheriff, I'll just stay a little bit later…" she agreed before the Sheriff thanked her and ended their call. Chloe felt anxious about Stiles' witnessing a murder, that had to be terrifying, but she wasn't too worried about him being traumatized after hearing about all the times Stiles has crashed a crime scene and he came out fine-ish.

Jesse called her mother and told her about staying at the Stilinski's late for the Sheriff then continued cleaning the kitchen. After it was spotless Chloe decided that she was hungry and decided to make dinner for herself and when the Stilinski boys got home. She made a casserole of what little she could find in their kitchen, it didn't taste too bad. While cleaning up her small mess and putting the left overs in the fridge she decided to write her number on a pad and stick it to the fridge so the Sheriff would have her number to call her for future reference. Afterwards, she pulled out her homework and tried getting through some of it while waiting on Stiles to appear so she could go home.

After finishing an assignment for her English class saw headlights pull up and voice of the boy in question calling out a 'goodbye' to someone. Jesse sighed in relief as she put her school work away. Stiles walked into the kitchen to stop in his tracks to see Chloe at this kitchen table and gave her a confused look.

"Your dad asked me to stay until you got home to make sure you were alright after what happened…" Stiles closed his mouth that had opened in confusion before nodding and walking to the fridge. "Are you ok?" she asked trying to be friendly. She wasn't really sure where they stood on the whole 'friends' scale but as someone who she has a history with she felt it was ok to ask. Stiles looked up from behind the door briefly

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I didn't see anything, just the body" he told her before standing up completely holding the casserole tray of leftovers "Did you make this?" he asked. Jesse felt a small pang in her chest of sympathy and worry over what he saw before responding to his question.

"Yeah, you guys can have the rest. I noticed there wasn't much in there so…" she trailed off realizing how imposing she was sounding. Stiles placed the casserole on the counter and pulled out a plate to eat. "I'm gonna go then" Jesse thought aloud as she awkwardly grabbed her bag and headed towards the door.

"Thanks Jess" Stiles called after her before she shut the door behind her.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _"_ _Something is going on in Beacon Hills that I don't know about… something that my "friends" seem to know about and aren't telling me. A part of me wants to know, but the other part of me wants to take Erica's advice and just go back to my glow-in-the dark stared ceiling and dark room and hide from the world. I feel like I keep getting pulled into this darkness no matter how hard I try to swim to the surface, like something bad is always around the corner. I still feel like I'm drowning… hey, that would make an interesting photo?"_


	4. The Inspiration

_Dear Diary,_

 _"I got an idea for my photography club 'homework' but I just don't know how I can do it. I want to take an underwater shot but I don't know if the school has cameras that can get wet or be submerged. I have all these great ideas but no motivation to do them. I want to do things, I want to make new friends, since my old one had decided I'm no longer worth her time… but instead I'm just… drowning"_

Jesse was lying on the floor of her still dark bedroom, staring up at her ceiling of stars thinking about her last camping trip with Daniel. Her alarm had gone off fifteen minutes ago but she had no motivation to get up, the best she could do was roll out of bed and lay on the floor. It's like her soul was tired and no matter how much sleep she got it was never satisfactory.

Looking up at her make-shift night sky Jesse remembered a quote and decided to post it on her twitter, "Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground" – Teddy Roosevelt. She was sure that the quote was meant to be an inspiring line about keeping your mind open but keep grounded; but Jesse was interpreting it a different way. She was using it as a motto for getting through the day. Keeping her mind wandering in her books or daydreams and her feet moving, because if she focused on reality or paused her steps for too long the blackness would surround her.

The school day was a blur of Jesse trying to focus on what the teachers were saying so she could complete her school work but she would eventually end up zoning out for the last 15 to 20 minutes of class. Once it was done, Jesse rode her scooter to the Stilinski's where she was still alone. She cleaned the bathrooms today and wiped off all the dusty ceiling fans and vents throughout the house. When she had walked into the kitchen she saw a pad of paper in what looked like Stiles' writing saying he had a lacrosse game at 6:30pm.

Jesse wasn't sure if the note was for his father to let him know why he was out late, or for her so she didn't have wait around for him to come home again. Jesse figured it was for his dad because she didn't really make much of a difference in his life enough for him to leave a note. Jesse looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30 now and she was done with what she wanted to with work for the day… she could attempt to take her picture ideas at the pool while everyone else was at the lacrosse game? She would be alone and no doubt the school would be unlocked for the lacrosse players to get to the locker rooms. There was a long pause where Jesse had to convince herself that she would do this, her house was on the way to the school so she could drop off her bag and grab her swim suit…

"Fuck it" said Jesse as she rushed out of the Stilinski house just barely remembering to lock it behind her before hopping on her rusty scooter and zipping home in the fading light. She got home and shed her uniform shirt before grabbing her long untouched swimsuit and shoving it in her swim bag she had kicked under her bed. She looked for clothes that were easy to change into and out of while also keep her warm on the ride to the school. She settled on a long sleeved 'vans' tee shirt, and heavy flannel with black leggings. Her swimsuit was underneath, her feet shoved in her tennis shoes, and hair tossed up in a messy bun. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror and saw the old her looking back… all except for the eyes that were still dull and sad looking.

Instead of staring at herself in the mirror and falling deeper into her depression, she chose instead to be in action and rushed out the door towards the school to shoot her project. On the ride over she liked her sense of freedom she felt of doing her own thing and for a few moments not having this dark and heavy weight on her chest.

Jesse got to the school and it felt like she was in a trance and knew exactly what she was doing. She walked into the school through the rear entrance where the doors were conveniently unlocked. She then went to the art room/photography club headquarters and grabbed a camera. The school just happened to have one last digital underwater camera with different stands and glass plates to utilize getting different types of shots. Jesse vaguely remembered her art teacher going over how to use them before grabbing one as well. She then walked through the pool and to the swim team locker rooms.

Jesse stood inside the door for a minute and looked around at the place where she used to spend so much time and now felt like a foreigner. Jesse slowly walked deeper into the locker room and set her stuff down on the closest bench before changing out of her clothes. She then grabbed the camera and equipment and walked awkwardly out of the locker room. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly nervous, it's not like anyone was in the pool, and she had already "stolen" the school property. It was just weird being alone in the place that once felt like a second home to her. She walked over to the edge of the deep end and spent the next five minutes going over setting up the camera and trying the different stands and plates deciding on what she wanted to try first.

"Fuck it" she said out of frustration and put the camera around her neck before jumping in. The water was cold yet refreshing and familiar to Jesse as she dove underneath the surface and floated back up to the top. Once she breached the surface she took a deep breath of air to calm her nerves before grabbing the camera and spent the next 25 minutes taking pictures of different angles and positions trying to capture the emotion of "drowning".

Yeah, it was a sort of depressing emotion to choose but anyone could relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by something to the point where you feel like you're barely hanging on. Chloe came back up to the surface and put her camera on the side of the pool when she sensed another presence in the room with her. She quickly glanced around but didn't see anyone. Instead of being the idiot girl who get murdered right away in the horror movie, Jesse decided sticking around the future crime scene was not a good idea and climbed out of the pool. She stood and began to go through her pictures while slowly walking back to the locker room. She was pleasantly surprised but some of the shot she had gotten when she ran into something hard.

"Jesucristo!" Jesse stumbled back while holding her camera equipment and looked up to see the potential murderer standing in front of her. He was the epitome of 'tall, dark, and handsome' with a body meant for sin. Jesse was a little shocked at herself and her thoughts when she was about to get murdered.

"Sorry for scaring you" Mr. sexy said to her and it took all her control not to lose her cool. Jesse stared at him out of awe that this perfect specimen of man was really in front of her, and unsure as to why he was in a high school swimming pool since he was obviously older and could do better. "My name is Derek" he told her holding out a hand. Jesse wanted to shake his hand but something was preventing her, and it wasn't just the camera equipment in her arms. He was almost too pretty…

"Jesse… why are you in a high school swimming pool?" she asked cutting right to the chase. She was hoping that it was to find her and make her his own but she had a suspicion he was a part of the "something going on in Beacon Hills" vibe she had been picking on. His smile faltered a bit before answering

"I'm waiting for someone, they told me to meet them here, I also wanted to take a walk around my old romping grounds… why are YOU in the swimming pool at night?" Derek asked her. Jesse felt her skin flush as she watched his gaze travel up and down her swim suit clad body.

"I'm on the swim team" she answered, not wanting to admit that she was basically taking underwater selfies. Derek gave her a disbelieving smile but just nodded while holding her gaze. Jesse felt trapped in his cerulean stare that was so intense, she could hear her heart beating in her ears and she was sure he could hear it too because she saw the smirk on his lips widen, accentuating his strong jaw line.

"Do you want to change out of your swim suit?" Derek asked and it shocked Jesse to the point where she swallowed her air wrong and nearly choked on it.

"What?" she asked in confusion, _Is he coming on to me?!_

"Just figured you probably want to put warmer clothes on, it's rather cold out tonight" Derek clarified with a soft chuckle in his voice. Jesse nodded stiffly before deciding to keep her mouth shut and just go change into her clothes and go home. Jesse dried off and changed back into her clothes quickly, she grabbed her camera equipment and went to open the door when suddenly she heard a loud crash followed by glass shattering. She froze and tried to hone in on the noise… it was silent for a few moments and Jesse thought her mind was playing tricks on her when she then heard yelling.

"Dios mio! They're killing each other out there!" Jesse whisper-yelled to herself. _I knew Mr. Sexy was bad news!_ Jesse looked around trying to find another exit but there was only the one that led to the pool, _that has got to be a fire code violation or something._ Jesse decided that she would have a better chance at an escape without holding onto a ton of camera equipment so she put them inside a locker in the back corner of the locker room so it was less likely to be stumbled upon.

She then walked back towards the only exit pressing her ear up against the door listening for any sign of a drug deal gone bad or whatever was happening. It was relatively quiet so she opened the door a crack and peaked out. From her view point she couldn't see anyone, and everything looked and sounded eerily calm. She opened the door slightly more and stuck her head out to check if the coast was clear, again nothing. She opened the door more to take a step out when the door betrayed her and squeaked. Jesse grimaced as her heart dropped to her feet as a sense of dread came over her as she knew her element of surprise was blown. A loud shriek erupted across the pool echoing off the walls rattling her brain in terror. Jesse stepped out from behind the door just in time to see some humanoid type thing leap out of the glass ceiling causing it to shatter. Jesse stared after it for a few moments trying to take in what she saw… did she really see that?

"Que diablos?!" Jesse voiced still staring up at the ceiling in awe and fear.

"Jess?" she heard a weak voice. She recognized that whine from many a witnessed seizure. Jess turned around to look for Erica but what she saw was a hunched over figure with sharp teeth and glowing yellow eyes. Jess was frozen in fear while staring at the monster in front of her. "Jess?" she heard Erica whine again and it snapped her out of her paralysis long enough to call out

"Erica where are you?" while backing up and not taking her eyes off the beast in front of her. Jesse heard a groan from behind her and finally tore her gaze to look down and found Erica on the floor. Jesse quickly knelt next to her and helped her sit up "We gotta go" Jesse said trying to save her friend from whatever was going on here. She looked back over towards the hunched creature with glowing eyes and her jaw dropped. The creature stood to become a young male with brown eyes… it was Scott.

"Jesse I can explain-" Scott tried saying to her but she was so confused and terrified that she took an involuntary lurch backwards while standing clumsily. She jerked Erica to stand up with her and pulled her towards the exit. _What the hell is going on?! What the hell is Scott?! Why is this happening?! How long has this been a thing?!_

"What the hell is wrong with you Scott?!" Jesse barked taking larger steps backwards towards her escape route.

"Jess?" she heard another familiar voice and looked over to see Stiles soaking wet on the ground next to that Derek guy. Her heart dropped once again to her feet in dread.

"What are you doing here? What the hell is going on?!" Jesse cried trying to pull Erica along with her.

"Jess STOP!" Erica said ripping her hand away from her and stepping away. Jesse looked at her confused and pleading to get them out of here to explain what was happening. Erica fast walked over to Derek and helped him up… _she was in on it, she was with him._ Jess stood there a moment staring at the four of them next to the pool in disbelief, not understanding what she had seen or who she was looking at anymore she turned and ran out the exit.

"Jess!?" she heard her name called back by the people who bad betrayed her, the people who lied to her, and most likely wanted to kill her now since she knew their secret. Jesse began running to get back to her Moped to try and get the hell out of there when her wrist was grabbed and she was spun around. Jesse was relieved only slightly that it was Erica as she pulled her arm away.

"What the hell is going on Erica? Is this what you warned me about?" Erica nodded her head.

"It gets a lot more complicated than that" Erica said before her face formed into a snarl and her eyes glowed yellow as well. _SHE'S ONE OF THEM!_ Jesse thought as she screamed and backed away as fast as she could from her former friend. "Jess stop screaming" Erica told her in a condescending tone that made Jess shut her mouth in shock. "I know it sounds crazy and like some bad teen movie but we're werewolves, Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Derek and I are all werewolves and involved in the supernatural… and that thing you saw was one of the things that we are trying to save everyone like you from" Erica told her stepping closer. Jesse wanted to believe her, she had just witnessed it… seeing is believing; but the rational part of her brain told her this is bull shit and to just run for it. Which is what she did as she left behind her former best friend with the rest of the monsters.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _"What the hell is going on? Werewolves aren't real?! What is she trying to spin here?! What is She?! What is going on?! How did she get involved in this? How did Stiles get involved in this? Who else knew? Am I a target now because I know?"_

The next morning it took Jesse a longer time than usual to leave for school not just for lack of motivation but also that fact that she might run into them… what do they want with her? When she arrived, she didn't have the chance to avoid them because she was immediately called into the office where the Principal and the Sheriff were waiting for her. John was giving her a disappointed look while the Principal was giving her a stern look as she stared back at them in confusion. Apparently, during the investigation of the broken window in the pool the locker containing the camera equipment and her cell phone was discovered. Now they were blaming the entire thing on her and chalking it up to "acting out" since her father had died.

Jesse tried explaining her side of the story but quickly realized the truth sounded crazy so she settled for the half-truth. She said she was there taking pictures for her photography club, she went to change and heard some noises that scared her so she stashed the camera and booked it out of there.

"Why didn't you find an adult? Or call the police then?" the elderly and intense principal asked her. Jesse didn't have a good answer for that other than "I was scared". The Sheriff's face lightened considerably and he rested a hand on her shoulder

"It's ok Jesse" but was cut off by Principal Argent.

"OK? This young delinquent owes the school a new glass ceiling" he informed both the Sheriff and Jesse who stared back at him in disbelief.

"What?" Jesse asked as she felt her throat clench up and her eyes start to water.

"Usted debe el dinero de la escuela" said Argent looking directly at her with an annoyed look on his face and a condescending tone in his voice.

"Whoa there Principal Argent, think about it… there is no way she could've thrown something that hard and that high up to break an entire glass ceiling window" the Sheriff reasoned. Argent sighed begrudgingly and sat back in his seat.

"That does make sense, but you did still steal a camera which is school property" he argued.

"It was for a photography project, it never left school grounds" Chloe tried to bargain. Argent just kept looking down his nose at her and a rage began to rise in Jesse's stomach.

"How about Chloe serves a few hours of community service with me after school as punishment for the photography equipment and the school's insurance covers the new window?" Sheriff Stilinski offered as a solution. Eventually, Principal Argent agreed and let the incident pass before letting Jesse leave. Sheriff Stilinski walked her out of the office. He walked her back towards the front the school where his cruiser was parked.

"So what's my punishment John" she asked bitterly. The Sheriff stopped and looked down at the girl he had watched grow up and gave her a pitying look.

"You have to come to my house and do your job, and cook some more of that delicious casserole, and on occasion have dinner with me when my son is out galivanting doing god knows what" he told her and Jesse couldn't help the sob that escaped her throat as a tear fell. Sheriff John Stilinski pulled Jesse into a hug to comfort her "Argent is a racist prick" he murmured and made Chloe squeeze harder. She was angry at the Principal for profiling her, but also in fear at the knowledge just what it was that his son was doing. He was off running around with werewolves and that scared the crap out of me.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _"Principal Argent is a racist ass hole; he is also Allison's grandfather. Allison is dating Scott who is a werewolf. Allison's family are humans that hunt werewolves. This was all explained during my mandatory "community service hours" at my job cleaning the Stilinski's. Stiles cornered me in the living room and spastically confirmed what Erica told me and what I saw jump through the window… it was the same thing that attacked him at the mechanic. He sat me down and gave me the abridged version of everything that happened last semester that happened right under my nose with Peter and Derek. Allison's psycho Aunt story made sense now but my entire sense of reality didn't. I got no work done the rest of the day, not even school work. My photography teacher wasn't even mad about the equipment after he saw my pictures, told me I have a real knack for photography. I honestly just think I'm good at expressing the feeling of drowning because it's all I know it real at this point"._


	5. The 'Actual' Reality

_Dear Diary,_

 _'I didn't go to school today, I was too afraid of what those monsters would do to me. I saw what they did to Erica and Scott and what one of them did to the window ON THE CEILING?! Erica was right when she told me to stay away, I just want to stay here and hide forever from reality since now I know what's out there… Yet, no matter how much she and that Derek guy terrify me; Erica is still that happy girl in a dress going to her first dance those few weeks ago. And how the Hell is Stiles caught up in all of this?! Is he one of them? Speaking of which- I'm late for work.'_

Jesse put her journal away and finally crawled out from under her bed sheets and covers to quickly put clothes on and her cleaning smock. She didn't dare look in the mirror as she quickly tied her long, wavy, dark hair up in a messy bun. She then grabbed her favorite leather coat with a sweatshirt material hood and her keys before heading out the door hoping to miss her mother before she came home to realize she never went to class. She went to their small garage where her mother ran her business out of to grab the necessary cleaning supplies she needed before loading her bag onto her scooter and heading towards the Stilinski's.

"Please don't let Stiles be home" Jesse prayed to whomever was listening as she drove through the residential area towards the Sheriff's home. She finally turned onto their street and saw the Stilinski driveway was empty. She let out a relieved breath as she pulled to a stop in front of the house happy she would be alone while cleaning.

Jesse let herself in, using the key they left under the doormat for her, and got to work cleaning the upstairs bedrooms to the best of her judgement of what was acceptable. She didn't feel comfortable straightening the papers on desks or looking around much. She kept her head down and quickly put dirty laundry into the hampers to vacuum the carpets then made the beds. Jesse then put the hampers in the laundry room so they would actually get cleaned; because from the smell of some of the clothing it hadn't been washed in a while.

Jesse placed the last hamper down when she turned around to see someone standing in the doorway blocking out the hallway light. The sudden dark shadow and appearance caught her off guard and threw Jesse into defensive mode after what she saw last night. She screamed and punched her dark assailant in the jaw.

"Ow! Jesse?! What the hell?!" cried Stiles. Jesse let out a small sigh of relief that she wasn't about to die. She let her shoulders sag as the adrenaline left her once tense muscles leaving her to take notice of her throbbing hand and heart beat in her ears.

"Stiles?! Dios mio, what the hell are you doing creeping up on me?!" she asked incredulously stepping out into the well-lit hallway to see him better. Stiles was leaned against a wall holding his face looking at her offendedly.

"This is MY house" he pointed out still confused. Jesse pursed her lips in realization of her faux-pa and stepped back looking down at her feet.

"right..." Stiles stopped rubbing his jaw to take in the girl in front of him, he saw how scared she looked with the fraying hair, dark circles under her eyes, and closed-off posture. He sighed and immediately felt bad for scaring her after what she witnessed last night.

"It's fine… Where were you today? I didn't see you in school, I looked for you" he told her standing up right again. Jesse's head snapped up to look at him, the fear had returned to her eyes

"I didn't really feel like getting almost killed again by los diablos" she answered taking steps away from him. It was Stiles' turn to let his shoulder sink but this time in defeat.

"Jesse, no… it's not like that" he tried to convince her but she shook her head and spun around and ran down the hallway away from him.

"Your one of them! Are you gonna kill me too?!" she cried as she began to bounce down the stairs as fast as she could.

"NO! Jesse! I'm not one of them! I'm a human! Just let me explain!" he called after her following her down the stairs and almost tripping at the bottom to keep himself from crashing into her as she had stopped and turned around to face him. Some part of her wanted to trust him, they had grown up together and all… but she knew what she saw, _did I though?_ She let Stiles catch his breath as she made up her mind about this situation.

"Will you at least let me explain my side of the story?" he asked her with pleading eyes. He reached his hand out cautiously towards her to show he was not the enemy. Jesse squinted at him still not trusting the clearly disadvantaged position she was in.

"You're really not one of them? You're normal?" she asked still not able to make up her mind on whether or not she wanted to bolt for the door or stay. Stiles nodded still staring at her as if she were a frightened deer that would bolt at any moment.

"Maybe not 'normal'" … he said trying to lighten the mood, Jesse still stared at him so Stiles wiped the small grin off his face and continued. "I'm totally human… Scott on the other hand… he's still my best friend…" he said trying to explain where he stood in the whole mess of things. Chloe blinked at him

"Like me and Erica?" she asked in a softer voice. Stiles nodded and he knew that her ears were open for more. "What… what happened to her? What is she?" Jesse asked finally deciding to listen, that didn't mean she would have to trust him. Stiles let out a sigh of relief and gestured towards the kitchen table.

Each of the teens slowly sat down on separate sides of the table facing each other like in a formal business meeting. Stiles sat down but continued to use his hands to tell the story in his jittery fashion as he explained everything, what happened to Scott, who Derek was, Peter, what happened to Lydia, what Derek was doing with Erica, Isaac, and Boyd… everything. Jesse sat there occasionally switching her gaze between Stiles' comforting eyes and the top of the table she had yet to wipe off, and listened. She didn't speak much besides the occasional "What?" or "Are you serious". Stiles understood that it was a lot to take in. He had even gone upstairs and gotten all his Lycanthropy research to show her… Jesse just sat there staring, glancing at everything in front of her, all the logical research and fact leading to an improbably and imaginative truth… that slowly became less of a Grimm's fairy tale and more of a nightmarish reality.

After he was done, Stiles took a deep breath and looked back up at her hoping for some sort of response. Jesse's mouth was slightly agape as she absorbed all the information that was being laid out for her. 40% of her was telling her that this was not real and Stiles needed to be taken to Eichen house and she'd accompany him because the other 60% saw those werewolves and that other 'whatchamacallit' and knew that it was all making sense. Erica had told her the truth.

"Well?" asked Stiles impatiently wanting to know how she was taking it. Stiles knew he could've just told her that she was seeing things like they had with everyone else but he wanted her to know, he wanted his childhood 'friend' to know. He figured she deserved to understand why her friend had ditched her in her time of grieving. Jesse blinked rapidly at the piles of paper in front of her before meeting his gaze.

"I don't know… I don't know what to do with this…" she stuttered out still blinking rapidly. "Am I crazy for almost buying this crap story?" she asked looking up into his eyes pleading for some sort of grin to break out on his face and to say 'got you!' but he didn't.

"It's ok… it was weird for me at first too" he told her nodding and running a hand over his buzzed head and rubbed the back of his neck. Jesse took a deep breath once more before looking back up at Stiles who had dropped his head.

"So just for shits and giggles, say I believed this… whatever the hell is happening… what do I do with this knowledge?" she asked. Stiles jerked his head up to look at her, not expecting her to accept his fucked-up werewolf logic so quickly.

"Well… I don't know" Stiles said honestly. Jesse nodded and for some reason began thinking about books that she had read about hero's discovering their destiny and going through trials and heartbreak to save everyone… at the time she had always wanted to be the hero of her own story but now that it was happening she wasn't sure she wanted it.

"Well I get paid by the hours that I'm here so…" Jesse pointed out looking at the clock noting that she had been there for four hours now. "I vote that for now, I'll just be a helpful friend if you need to talk to someone… I'll still clean your house, you'll still get into trouble with your Dad, we'll see each other at school… Things stay as normal as they can be, but this is just another avenue of conversation for us… I don't really want to die from a 'mountain lion' attack just yet". Stiles nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

"Yes, the less people that are 'in the know' the less people there are to constantly worry about" Stiles concluded. He was happy that she wasn't one of those girls who didn't a) run away from him and 'cry wolf' to the whole town or b) didn't want to start 'helping out' with him and Scott's shenanigans. He was sure he should've died multiple times by now and didn't need someone else's life on his conscious. He wanted her to stay safe, his little slice of normal. The two awkwardly smiled at each other in agreement before getting up from their meeting.

"Ok?" asked Jesse.

"Ok" said Stiles confirming their agreement on their current predicament. "Hey um… you didn't tell anyone about all this… right?" he asked wanting to keep a personal tall in his head of everyone that knew about the supernatural occurrences and beings in Beacon Hills. Jesse rolled her eyes and halfheartedly answered

"Who am I going to tell?" Stiles shrugged

"Your mom?" he offered. Jesse smiled weakly at his attempt at trying to make her sound like not a complete recluse loser.

"No… I didn't tell her or anyone else… I don't really have anyone else since Erica… ya know…" she trailed off. Stiles nodded understanding about your one best friend becoming a werewolf and living this new life without you. Jesse went home with a new understanding of what was going on, she was only slightly less terrified but glad she would at least know what was brutally murdering her when the time came.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'Yesterday was so fucked up, I learned that my scariest nightmare came true… werewolves are real! What the fuck else is real?! Vampires? Do they sparkle?! What the hell have I gotten myself into, before I didn't want to face the world because of people and remembering the dead, now I don't want to go out because I'm afraid I'll join them. Stiles is trying to be nice by explaining things to me when I'm at his house cleaning but I don't know if I can be a part of this… whatever the hell this is. Apparently, the weird lizard thing that broke the stupid window is called a Kanima? They thought it was Lydia freaking martin because everything revolves around her, but it wasn't… it's now Jackson? Erica and her new pack are being dicks to Stiles and Scott while she is ignoring me in front of her other pack members or sending me wistful glances my way in the cafeteria like she misses me or something? I guess I just need to write this all down to keep it straight. I ended up staying late at the Stilinski's last night because the Kanima attacked the underground club or something and of course Stiles, Scott and Allison were all there when the Sheriff showed up at the crime scene… I made them dinner, it went cold.'_

The next day Jesse didn't see Sties at all and chalked it up to being part of some supernatural excuse. Jesse didn't like waiting around for her, technically only two, friends to deal with supernatural shit she wanted no part of. She found Abby at lunch and they talked about their photography club projects before having to go back to class. This was Jesse's new life, she would see Erica sauntering down the hallways along with the worried looks from Stiles and his friend group, she would only really get to talk to Abby at lunch occasionally or at the photography club meetings. Jesse wanted no drama in her life, that included the supernatural… but with excluding herself from that she secluded herself from her friends. That fact didn't go unnoticed by Ms. Morrell either as she kept pestering Jesse to come and see her, each encounter slightly more tense than the last. Jesse still refused though because her homework, which is all she did now days besides clean the Stilinski's during the week and a few extra houses on the weekends.

Stiles would update her every now and then on what had happened each day such as how when trying to protect the town and Jackson from himself he and Scott kidnapped him and kept him in the woods and nearly got arrested. Resulting in Jackson getting a restraining order against him and her staying late and falling asleep at the table waiting for the Stilinski's to come home. Her food she had made had gone cold again and the Sheriff apologized profusely along with Stiles about not calling and dismissing her. She didn't have to stay but it was part of her 'community service' to make them dinner… the least they could do was eat it. Stiles gave her and her scooter a ride home since it was late while he updated her how the Kanima is controlled by someone and therefore a deadly weapon. Jesse didn't need to be told twice to stay inside and read her books.

Jesse was happy she had a person in her life that would talk to her but she wanted to talk about other things that didn't terrify her for once. Everything revolved around death and/or preventing it. Jesse lived for the weekends now when she didn't have to see Stiles and hear about the murderous goings-on of Beacon Hills. It was a little sad that she liked not talking to one of her only friends. A part of her new she needed to hear it all though, to understand Erica's life even just the slightest bit more.

Jesse made it a goal to stay the course that she had started with Erica and the supernatural; but she needed more friends… like Abby. She only saw Abby at meetings or at lunch but Abby was a year older and had other friends. Jesse made it a goal to make new friends; normal, human friends. She thought she would start with getting a tutor to help her stay on track with her school work. Sure, her grades were no longer suffering but it was an excuse to talk to people. She met one person, his name was Kyle and he texted his girlfriend a lot. He seemed nice enough and understood government a lot better than she did… _Friends with perks_.

Jesse went to work dreading what other news she would receive about who almost died because of Jackson freaking Whitmore. She got to the house to find it empty and a voicemail on her cell from the Sheriff saying that he would be working late, and another text from an unknown number

 **Hey, got detention so don't wait up for me this time** **J**

She was confused for a moment or two before piecing together that it was Stiles. _How did he get my number?_ Jesse glanced at the fridge were her post-it still stuck with her number on it for the Sheriff, _right…_ Jesse was relieved felt a small weight lift from her chest before starting. She finished cleaning the living room and kitchen in record time before calling it. She quickly made a healthy meal for the Sheriff, as per Stiles' request, and put it in some Tupperware. She was appreciative of the Stilinski's starting to take her time into consideration and letting her know not to wait up.

Jesse drove her moped over to the Sheriff station to drop off the Sheriff's meal. She had only been inside the station a handful of time but new the basics of her way around the building. She walked in and waved to the front desk women who recognized her and let her pass. Jesse then knocked on the Sheriff's office door and poked her head in.

"Delivery for Sheriff Stilinski" she softly joked with a warm smile. The Sheriff looked up from his desk and smiled back at her.

"Jesse?! What are you doing here?" he asked while smiling back at her. Jesse stepped all the way in holding up the Tupperware and her reason for being there.

"Brought you your dinner" she said walking over and placing it on his desk. The Sheriff smiled and leaned back in his seat in a relaxed manner.

"Oh! thanks hun, come on in and sit down! Join me" he said gesturing to the seat opposite of his desk and himself. Jesse smiled and looked down at her feet before declining.

"I have to get home, but raincheck?" she asked looking back up at him questioning. The Sheriff nodded a little let-down but understandingly.

"It is getting late, make sure you get home safe" He told her before digging into his meal. Jesse nodded and grinned before heading out of the Sheriff station and back home. Jesse drove home and couldn't help the lighter feeling she felt after connecting with the Sheriff a bit. She wasn't sure if she was looking for another pseudo-father-figure in him but she guessed he had always kind of been one to her. She had missed that feeling in her life, the little comments on 'be safe' or 'do your homework' were what she missed most… it was their way saying "I love you" without saying the words.

The next day Stiles found her in the hallway and thanked her for feeding his dad and told her about Jackson in the library during his detention. Jesse asked if he was alright, he was of course, and then tried to go over what Jackson's master could want with him. Jesse broke just then and stopped walking

"I honestly don't know Stiles?!" she said a little too loudly. Stiles stopped and stared at her in shock at her sudden outburst. His mouth was slightly agape trying to think of what he had done wrong. Jesse was just feeling overwhelmed with everything, she was still adjusting to her heightened awareness of her deadlier reality. She had such a nice night last night, it was so normal, she got to work, then went home and did her homework, and read a few chapters in her book… She wasn't good at solving crimes. "Why don't you talk to someone who solves crimes for a profession like I don't know… your father?!" she pointed out.

"What?! No! Jesse, my dad can't know about this, none of it" he said putting his foot down once again about protecting his father… the Sheriff.

"Why not? Why can't the Sheriff know? If anyone could help it would be him! THE SHERIFF!" she pointed out once more. Stile shook his head stubbornly and Jesse rolled her eyes in exasperation "Why does your cleaning lady get to know and not your father?!" she asked putting her hand on her hips. Stiles was once again at a loss for words. "Is it because you don't want to lose your dad? Trust me, I know it sucks… but all this terrifies me… I'm not good at this, my skills aren't as useful with all this" Jesse said wrapping her arms around herself and staring at her shoes. Stiles' shoulders slumped at hearing what she thinks of him and his reason for telling her.

"Jesse, I told you because you stumbled into all of this and I didn't want you to be scared" he tried to reason. Jesse raised her eyebrows at him in offense

"So, if I hadn't of been at the pool that night you would've just let me go on believing that everything was fine?!" she questioned. Stiles gave her a frustrated look

"What do you want me to say to that?... Yes, the less people know the better, and you would've been safer" he tried arguing.

"I would've been safer like your dad? Who could walk blindly into a situation like the pool on accident and not know what the hell was going on before doing something stupid to get himself killed?!" Jesse said between gritted teeth before beginning to walk away towards her class. Leaving a stiff Stiles behind considering her reasoning.

"Why is it so important that my dad knows? I can't lose him too… he's all I got left" Stiles called out to her, his voice dying out at the end. Jesse cast him a pitying glance, he understood what it was like to lose a parent. John Stilinski was the only parent stiles had left, he was the only father-figure Jesse had left. She didn't say anything in response before getting to class just as the bell rang almost making her tardy.

After school Jesse went to work at the Stilinski's and towards the end of her shift received a text from Stiles.

 **Having dinner with Dad, talking about Kanima killings… he doesn't know everything but you were right, he's good at this.**

Jesse smiled at her phone and didn't bother making dinner before finishing up mopping the floors and heading home where she ate dinner with her own parent. Who informed her of the school guidance counselor calling her while cleaning today.

Her mother and teachers were happy with her grades improving but her guidance counselor wasn't happy with her lack of socialization. Jesse answered questions in class so her teachers didn't say anything, but Ms. Morrell kept pointing out that she needed friends.

"Like I'm not aware?! Lo estoy ententando! I have Abby!... and Kyle-ish" she tried reasoning with her mother.

Jesse tried talking to her fellow peers, she could hold small talk but no one seemed to really take notice to the sad Latina girl with the dull eyes. Her mother told her that Jesse only had to go and see Ms. Morrell once just to

"keep that annoying woman from calling me at work." Jesse agreed that She would see Ms. Morrell after school tomorrow. Jesse was surprised the school, let alone the annoying woman herself hadn't told her mother about her 'community service' for "breaking the glass ceiling". Jesse was going to try and keep it that way. If her mother did find out Jesse just planned on saying it was all in the name of art. She was just trying to live her life one day at a time, until the day that the photography contest results would be announced.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'I found a quote today that sums up how I feel about it, "We cling to art and music because we want someone to explain the things that we can't". I was told that my picture was good, it played with lighting and focus and "it made you think", which is good I guess because they say that "a picture is worth a thousand words." I still lost though, the art teacher/photography advisor said that I was the runner up… I'm sick of losing. I just really needed a 'win' you know?'_


	6. The Calm Before the Storm

_Dear Diary._

 _'After the photography club contest bust, Abby and I were both sore losers together and went out and got some ice cream before I had to go to work. We sat there and trashed the winners' picture, which is childish but we both needed a little 'pick-me-up'. It was nice having a 'girls night' after being alone for so long, or only really seeing Stiles after school. We both decided that we weren't going to let this little set back in our future career's as famous photographers stop us from achieving greatness. I found a really good quote and tweeted it while I was in the bathroom at the local diner we had stopped at. "Find what you love and let it kill you" -Bukowski. When I came back Abby was on her phone and showed be a tweet she really liked that pertained to our previous conversation… Abby follows my literary alter ego on twitter! I felt so flattered!'_

The next day at school Jesse was determined to have a non-supernatural day and avoided Stiles like the plague. She liked Stiles but just need something normal in her life. Stiles and Scott had apparently made themselves scares anyway so it wasn't that hard. Abby and she had lunch together and talked about ideas they had for photography shoots. They even made open-ended plans together to go hiking and take pictures together. She met up with Kyle and the two lightly chit-chatted while going over Jesse's government assignment. Kyle mentioned needing a job to help cover paying for a car for himself. Jesse offered her mom's cleaning business and Kyle surprisingly said he'd consider it seeing as how the hours were flexible and he was on a strict schedule for cross country training. Jesse was having a good day; right up until she was forced into a meeting with Ms. Morrell after the school day ended.

Jesse dragged her feet until she reached the young French teacher's counseling office where she begrudgingly took a seat. It started off pleasant enough with light chit chat about how school was going and what Jesse had been up to recently. Ms. Morrell was happy she was getting involved in things again after she had quit the swim team, and recommended joining the yearbook committee as a photographer. Jesse modestly declined saying she wasn't any good. Ms. Morrell said that

"In order to become an expert one has to practice". Jesse nodded and agreed before asking.

"Nice quote, where'd you get that?" the two women then lightly discussed literature and Jesse disclosed her secret twitter account to which Ms. Morrell smiled kindly at and said that she had heard of a popular twitter being talked about amongst the students.

They then brushed on slightly touchy-er topics such as how she was handling her father's death. Jesse switched the topic to work and how she enjoyed working for the Sheriff and how she was worried about his job since he was recently suspended. The guidance counselor, not falling for her deflection, then brought up her community service and lightly threatened to call her mother to discuss her 'lashing out' unless Jesse conceded to see her once a week after school. Jesse glared at the woman for a few moments before nodding a response. Her teacher then proceeded to aggressively question her about something completely out of left field…

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'Holy shit! What the hell?! Ms. Morrell knows?! How the hell does Ms. Morrell know?! What?! She just came up and asked me about Erica deserting me to be a werewolf, and all I could do was gape at her like an idiota! I high tailed it out of there and texted Stiles what she said. I didn't want to be in the middle of this, or off center, or even out of focus! But this I felt was an exception to get involved and warn Stiles and Scott. This black-mailing puta has got to be out of her mind if she thinks I'm going to her office willingly after that.'_

Jesse raced home thoroughly freaked out more than usual. She skipped going to the Stilinski's and just hid in her dark room under the comfort of her glow-in-the-dark stars. She didn't receive a text from Stiles till some long hours later

 **Really?! Wow… all the wolves were out tonight trying to trap the Kanima, we did but a girl still died. Dad and I will be here awhile so you can go home.**

Jesse wasn't even shocked anymore that Stiles was at a crime scene but was slightly relieved that he was ok. She did however feel guilty about not going to work though and decided to be honest

 **I never went to your house, been home since school got out… sorry :/**

It only took a moment to get a response from the spastic boy.

 **Cool! Stay there, we don't know where Matt or the lizard thing went.**

Jesse blinked in surprise at the end of that last statement. _Matt was involved too? Like 'Matt from geography'? that Matt?_

 **Which Matt?**

Jesse asked trying to be sure of herself. She wanted to make sure that in her pursuit of new friends she didn't start talking to previously supernaturally involved people.

 **Matt Daehler, we're pretty positive he's the master of the Kanima.**

Jesse let out a calming breath at the thought of the nice guy from geography class being a murderer, she was happy she wasn't in trouble but still worried about who all knew about the supernatural and what exactly they had to do with all of this. Her emotions were currently in a cluster-fuck. A week and half went by without so much as a peep of the supernatural. It was nice and refreshing for Jesse to be able to get into a new groove of spending time with Abby and Kyle at school and working at the Stilinski's by cleaning and making dinner. She still dodged Ms. Morrell by hiding in the bath rooms in passing periods, she also didn't have to see Erica this way.

Jesse had just made it to the Stilinski's when she saw the Sheriff, Stiles, and Scott all rushing out of the house to the police cruiser. Jesse parked her car while giving them all a strange and curious look. She caught Scott's eye for the first time since the pool and Jesse hated to say that she was still a little scared of him. She quickly moved her gaze onto the Sheriff who had changed his path of going to their car to walking up to her.

"Hey John, Where's the party?" she asked seeing him out of uniform was still weird, as well as seeing him taking his son on what she could tell by his facial expression was an important matter.

"Jesse, Hi, the boys and I were discussing a case and may have found a breakthrough, were heading to the station to check it out… you don't need to wait up for us tonight ok kiddo?" he ended on a friendlier note. Jesse smiled at him, proud of him to getting back up on that horse after being dismissed.

"Proud of you Sheriff" she told him, putting extra emphasis on the last word, causing a smile to spread across his face. "How about after I'm done here, if you guys are still there I'll drop off some food?" she offered.

"Yes please!?" she heard from behind the Sheriff. They both turned to see Stiles yelling out the window of the car with Scott, both waiting impatiently. John chuckled before walking away backwards towards the car.

"That would be much appreciated" He told her before he too turned back and climbed into the car with a little extra pep in his step. Jesse smiled after them before heading inside to work. She knew that Stiles got his natural curiosity from somewhere, she was happy the sheriff was still passionate about his job, even if it wasn't technically his job anymore. Jesse cleaned all the upstairs, including the bathroom, and found that the laundry was once again starting to smell rank. She put the offending hampers in the laundry room before heading off the kitchen to make a taco-salad-casserole. Jesse finished quickly and loaded up her moped to head to the sheriff's office and then home for another relaxing night enjoying her book.

She pulled up to the station and parked in the nearly empty rear parking lot turning off her light. Jesse pulled the taco salad casserole out of the basket and looked around. The place was dead, which she guessed was a good thing but it gave the place an eerie feeling in the dark. Chloe rolled her eyes at herself before walking up to the back doors to drop off the boy's food and then go home. She walked through the main doors but was stopped by the second set, they were locked. _Why are these locked? Isn't this place open 24/7? They're never locked…_

Just then a side door connecting to the breezeway opened to reveal Mr. tall-dark-handsome staring at her intensely with those powerful electric-blue eyes; he had come in through a different entrance apparently. Jesse froze, and fear struck her down to her core as he laid eyes on the beast that took her friend away from her. _Wait, if he's here then… something is happening._ Jesse snapped out of it and looked around trying to find someone else to ask questions to.

"I don't know where they are, all I know is that something is going on… I'm here to help Scott, not hurt you Jesse…" he told her, his intense gaze melting to a slightly softer one. Jesse let her imagination get away from her for a second as she considered his words and envisioned what he would look like shirtless… and on top of her. Jesse nodded trying to stay focused

"I'm just here to drop the Sheriff's meal off and then I'll leave… I won't get in the way" she reasoned with him.

"I think just by being here you're already involved" Derek told her grimly. Jesse swallowed trying to soothe her dry throat as flashbacks of the pool came to mind.

"Is that lizard thing here?" she asked. Derek shrugged slightly before growing stiff and turning around, almost as if he heard something.

"I don't know if the Kanima is here but someone is, and they've got Scott…" Jesse's heart dropped to her toes as she began to back up down the short breezeway back towards the front entrance. She let out a pathetic sounding whimper as she tried to slowly make her exit. "Get out of here Jesse…now" Derek said as he began walking towards the other door that entered further into the station.

Jesse didn't need to be told twice as she turned on her heel to head back out to her moped to go home. Just then a clicking noise was heard and Jesse looked back to see Scott and Stiles had opened the locked door for Derek, whom of which was blocked from her view by Jackson… _how did he get here._

It was silent for a beat before Derek fell limply to the ground in front of Jackson into the station at the feet of Stiles and Scott. That's when she saw the side of Jackson's face to find it wasn't Jackson anymore, his skin had reptilian scales and his eyes were glowing yellow, much like Scott's. Jesse couldn't help but let out the small shriek as she dropped the casserole platter that she had forgotten was in her hands; thoroughly making her presence known. Scott went to rush forward to help Derek and Stiles met her eyes in fear, but Jackson stopped them with a taunting wave of his creepily clawed finger. Jesse was frozen to the spot, afraid that if she ran it would attack her. That's when a voice became clear and she saw Matt poke his head around the corner, holding a gun to Scott and Stiles. _What the hell?!_

"Jesse, how nice of you to join us" Matt teased while stepping around Scott to look at Derek on the ground.

"This is the one controlling him… really? This kid?" Derek asked condescendingly from the ground. Matt glared at him still waving his gun about carelessly.

"Well Derek, not everyone can be a big strong Werewolf… oh yeah, that's right" Matt teased in a falsely innocent tone "I've learned a few things lately… werewolves, hunters, Kanima' s. It's like a fricken Halloween party every full moon." Stiles gained Jesse's eye contact and was trying to tell her to run when Matt spoke to him making him whip his head back around to face him. "Except for you Stiles, what do you turn into?" he teased. Jesse didn't like where this conversation had turned, she was fine with the supernatural things fighting and killing each other but when it came to innocent humans… Jesse didn't know what to do but she knew that she was not ok with it.

"Abominable snowman" Stiles retorted with a slight shake in his voice, _Stiles the king of sass,_ Jesse thought closing her eyes and shaking her head at the boy. "But uh… it's more of a winter time thing, you know… seasonal" he finished. Jesse let out a shaky breath worried about what his smart-ass response would earn him. Just then the Kanima sped forward and sliced his claws just barely grazing the back of his neck.

"No!" Jesse shrieked rushing forward. The Kanima held it's arm out to stop her from breaching the doorway completely as well as to stop Scott from helping his friend.

"Whoa, there's no rush to join the party Jesse… there's plenty of fun to be had still" Matt joked eyeing her up and down. Jesse glared at him in disgust

"Son of a bitch" Stiles moaned out as his body too went limp and he fell forward and landed awkwardly on top of Derek. For a moment, Jesse was a little jealous before her fear returned seeing the scaly arm in from of her and Matt's carelessly aimed gun flying around in his hand.

"Get him off me" Derek said starting to look pissed.

"Oh, I don't know Derek, you two make a pretty good pair" Matt teased once more making Jesse's stomach twist in panic. "It must kind-of suck though, having all that power taken away from you from just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless" Matt said in a deadly sounding whisper. _Like how I feel right now?!_

"I still got teeth, why don't you come a little closer huh? Then I can show you just how helpless I am" Derek tested. That threat would scare anyone on any other day but it was hard to take him seriously with a limp Stiles lying on his chest.

"Yeah bitch" said the boy in question. Just then a set of headlights flashed across the windows, someone else had pulled into the Sheriff's Station.

"Is that your mom Scott?" Matt asked in false innocence once again sending a shiver of fear down Jesse's spine at the thought of another innocent victim. Jesse met Scott's eyes briefly before they flashed back to Matt's deranged ones. "Do what I tell you and I won't hurt her, I won't even let Jackson near her"

"Scott don't trust him!" Stiles tried to warn. Matt, fed up with the smart-ass retorts grabbed the limp Stiles and rolled him over with the hand that wasn't holding the gun. Then proceeded to step on Stiles' throat, choking him.

"Stop!" Jesse cried trying to step forward but stopped once again by the Kanima' s arm.

"Matt Stop!" Scott cried fearing for his friend and the innocent girl standing there that he had already traumatized enough recently.

"Do what I tell you to do" Matt commanded again. Scott conceded and Matt stepped off Stiles' neck. His face turning back to its usual pale shade from red.

"You" Matt ordered towards the Kanima, "Take them in there" he said referring to Stiles, Derek. "You two" he barked next pointing at Scott and Jesse, "with me". Scott sent one last weary look after Stiles before disappearing around a corner with Matt. The Kanima then bared its teeth at her and Jesse didn't need to be told twice to move, she followed behind Scott and Matt as she watched the Kanima begin to drag Stiles and Derek into the Sheriff's office. Matt walked Scott and her at pun point back towards the front of the building before making a detour towards the holding cell.

"Get in" he ordered and Scott opened the cell door as Jesse walked in, Scott meant to follow suit when Matt grabbed him and pulled him back. "Not you, I still need you" he said getting agitated. Jesse was kindof relieved to not me stuck in an enclosed space with Scott, a werewolf.

"Why are you putting me in here?" she asked wanting to know why she's being singled out, she had watched enough movies that it was never a good idea to be singled out in a hostage situation.

"Oh don't worry, you'll have some company soon" Matt teased as he pulled Scott away with him leaving Jesse alone.

"I won't let anything happen to you Jesse, I promise" Scott called out to her. Jesse bit her lip trying to hold back her whimpers of fear as Matt yelled at him to shut up before they were out of ear shot. Jesse placed her hands on the bars and looked around the room. She didn't like being alone. Just then a loud gunshot echoed off the walls and rang in her ears. Jesse's heart stopped at the sound. _Oh god… he shot someone_ , Jesse thought as she began to shake in fear. It was soon followed by a feminine scream and a lot of yelling. Jesse let go wanted to get the hell out of there but she was locked in and she was not smart or strong enough to bust out.

Tears leaked down her face as she waited in anguished silence for someone to come around the corner either to save her or to kill her. Finally, John and a woman came around the corner followed by Matt and a now bleeding Scott. _He Shot Scott?! Holy Shit! He really is gonna kill us?!_

"Jesse?!" said John as he saw her and glad she was ok. She tried to smile through her tears so show she was ok, and that she was happy he was too. Matt sat him down and handcuffed him to a bench just outside the cell, and pushed the woman inside with her before slamming the door shut, relocking them in.

"Matt, you have to let me see my son! He's been shot!" the woman begged in hysterics.

"Mom I'm ok" Scott tried to reassure her, _that's right he's a werewolf… he has heightened abilities like healing right?_

"No hunny you're not, that's the adrenaline…" she looked back at Matt who had amused look on his face "He needs to see a doctor-" she started before Matt cut her off.

"Lady… if you don't shut up, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head" he threatened, effectively ending the nurse's pleas for her son's life. "Back to the front McCall" Matt ordered the injured teen while turning away from the cell. As soon as they were gone the sheriff leaned closer to the cell

"Are you two ok?" he asked worriedly. Scott's mom was shaking with a hand over her mouth still staring after her injured son. "Melissa?" the Sheriff tried again, efficiently snapping her out of it as she made eye contact with him and nodded. "Jesse?" he asked now looking at her. Jesse used the wall to stand

"I'm ok…" The Sheriff nodded then looked back down the hallway.

"We gotta find a way to help them" The Sheriff stated looking around for anything to help their predicament. Jesse then suddenly remembered and pulled out her own cell phone, _why hadn't I thought of this before?! Soy idiota!_

"I got it" Jesse said pulling out her phone to show them. Melissa let out a small breath of relief

"Hurry before they come back" Melissa warned her helping Jesse as she acted to get up higher to get better service.

"Call the other Sheriff's department to come help" John told her and she nodded.

"Do you know the number?" she asked looking back down at him as her arm was inside the small concreate window near the top of the cell while she stood on the head of the bed frame with Melissa stabling her legs. Sheriff quickly fed her the number as she dialed and listened to the crackly ringtone go through.

"Williamsburg Sheriff's department, how can I help you?' came a voice over the line. Jesse's heart rose as hope began to make it way back into her eyes as she looked back at the two adults

"Yes, my name is Jesse Vital, I'm in a hostage situation in Beacon Hills Sheriff department, former Sheriff is trapped here with me, please help us!" Jesse rushed into the phone as the Sheriff gave her a relieved smile that she had gotten through.

"Are there any other policemen there with you?" asked the voice. Jesse closed her eyes remembering what Stiles had told her before

"No, I think they're all dead.. we have some people injured here as well" Jesse's voice broke.

"Ok ma'am, we'll try- *crackling* -can you *crackling*" then only the sound of dial tone, she lost signal.

"Hello?! Hello?! Can you hear me?!" she cried into the phone as she lost the last shred of hope. Melissa helped her down and patted her on the shoulder trying to comfort her, it wasn't really working seeing as the mother herself had tear marks running down her face.

"Jesse, it's ok, you did good kiddo, at least we got through, they've gotta send someone" John Stilinski told her trying to calm her down. Tears began to drip out of her eyes as Jesse sat down on the bed and held her legs to her chest. Jesse had never been so terrified in her life. Just then the power went out and the backup flashing lights and alarms started going off.

"Well people will definitely be coming now" the Sheriff said trying to keep the two women calm. That's when the gun shots began pelting the building. Melissa and Jesse screamed as the two huddled on the cot.

"Scott?! Stiles!?" The Sheriff called out in full on hulk mode. He stood up and began pulling at his restraints attached to the wall. Melissa stood up and began encouraging him so she could get to her son in time. Jesse shrank back into the bed not knowing what to do, how to help, how to survive any of this. Just then John let out a loud holler and pulled his handcuff and bar off the wall

"How strong are those cuffs?" Jesse asked getting up to stand. But hope was dashed out once again as Matt seemingly came out form nowhere and hit the Sheriff in the side of the head with the gun, knocking him out. Melissa let out another scream of terror as she watched the scene unfold. Jesse's knees gave out with the rest of her hope and fell to the ground on her knees in silent fear. That's when she saw Stiles on the floor slowly moving and dragging himself across the floor, trying to save his dad, still fighting. Jesse wanted to help him but didn't want him getting shot by pointing out where he was.

"Matt" she called out trying to get his attention off the Sheriff so he didn't hurt him anymore, and away from discovering Stiles.

"Matt, listen to me" Melissa begged "My son has been shot, and I heard all the gunfire, and I don't know what's happening but can you please just let me see my son?" her voice cracking at the end. Matt stood up and looked at her incredulously

"How clueless are you people?!" he asked and Jesse stood up then, she knew Stiles didn't want his dad to know about this, and Scott most likely hadn't told his mom for the same reasons. Jesse wasn't going to just sit there as Matt destroyed what little family they all had left. Jesse reached out with her sea-glass ring turned around and slapped Matt across the face, leaving a small cut on his cheek. Jesse was shocked she had even done it. _And… this is how I die, doing something completely stupid._ Before Matt could do anything to retaliate, Derek stepped into the room behind where Stiles had crawled in, fully wolfed-out and his terrifying red eyes glowed in the dark. Jesse grabbed Melissa's arm and pulled her back away from the cell bars.

Derek's intension was to attack Matt and end all of this, but Matt was quick to call his body guard and soon the Kanima showed up fully lizard-out. Both monsters let out a menacing call before attacking one another. The sight was terrifying as Jesse and Melissa held each other in fear of what they were witnessing. _Dos Diablos… se mataran,_ Jesse thought as she watched the two rejects of god fight one another as Matt ran away… leaving them alone with two hell-beasts. Jesse continued to watch the fight with Melissa making sure they didn't get to close to the unconscious Sheriff.

Somehow the Kanima got the upper hand and threw Derek down the hallway out of sight. Apparently 'out of sight, out of mind' because next it turned towards the three known humans in the room and eyed them up like it's next meal. It started stalking towards the Sheriff when the frantic yet still half immobile Stiles started crawling into the room. Jesse couldn't watch them both get killed so she banged on the bars to get its attention.

"Hey!" she screamed at it. She didn't have to tell it twice as it then ignored the unconscious Sheriff and jumped onto the bars of the cell and began taunting her and Melissa like its prey. Jesse wasn't sure how strong the holding cell bars were but she didn't want to wait to find out, luckily, she didn't have to as Scott ran in and threw the Kanima off.

"Oh, thank god" Melissa cried as she threw herself against the bars to see her son. Scott tried to keep his face hidden as he turned his back to the cellmates to continue fighting the Kanima. It regained its footing when Derek barged back in and tackled it to the ground, saving Scott the trouble. "Scott? Scott, are you ok?!" cried out the worried mother with tears of relief running down her face.

Jesse knew there was nothing she could do to stop what was about to happen so she just prepared herself for what she was about to see. Scott showed his face to his mother and she was afraid of him, she no longer wanted to comfort her son but wanted to run from a monster. Jesse could feel Scott's heart breaking as his mother rejected him, so he ran out of the room and most likely the station.

Jesse held onto Scott's mother as she cried and shook in fear. She also watched as Stiles regained more of his motor skills and continued to crawl into the room to his father to check if he was ok. John Stilinski and his son's reunion was a more positive one as the two embraced each other before checking on Melissa and Jesse in the cell. The Sheriff hugged Jesse close as soon as he got her out and made sure she was ok. Jesse was glad Stiles still had his father, and she still had the Sheriff in her life. She couldn't imagine losing him, not another parental figure. She couldn't imagine how Scott felt right now.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'_ _I thought that being in a hostage situation would be more traumatizing but honestly I just find myself feeling numb about it. The other cops showed up quick and cleared the building, we all had to get checked out by EMT's before we could leave. I overheard Scott explaining matt's reasons for killing the 2006 swim team… apparently, they almost killed him?! Glad I quit the team when I did or I might have been shot out of spite. I got a police escort home from the reinstated Sheriff of Beacon Hills himself, who then explained to my mom what all had happened. Let's just say my mom didn't let me leave her sight the rest of the night as we held each other on the couch and watched old John Carpenter movies like 'Big trouble in Little China' and 'Escape from New York' since I couldn't sleep. Mom made me go to see Ms. Morrell in the morning, when I go to her office I found Stiles already in there. I don't think they knew that I heard everything, Stiles was kind of harsh on Matt is saying he didn't feel sorry for him, but what he said about drowning afterwards really hit me… did he feel the same way? Just completely overwhelmed? abrumado? Ms. Morrell then said something that I immediately tweeted, "If you're going through hell, keep going" -Winston Churchill. My turn in her office wasn't nearly as interesting as she just grilled me about not sticking to out deal. Her threats didn't scare me anymore though, I knew there were scarier things out there now that could do worse than tell my mom I was framed for a crime by a racist ass hole who is making me do community service hours. I made a promise to myself that nothing was going to tear my mom and I apart, not the supernatural, and definitely not this puta shrink'._


	7. A New Hope

_Dear Diary,_

 _'All I wanted was some normal, was that too much to ask? After nearly dying again and being retraumatized, I now can no longer sleep. I have read and re-read all the books in the house already, remind me to go to the library after my tutoring session with Kyle later. Stiles caught me in the hallway this morning and filled me in on how Allison, the nice girl who had tried to help Erica at the rock wall. was now ape-shit crazy and trying to kill people with her hunter family?! Matt is no longer the Kanima's master seeing as how his body was found in the river shortly after the Sheriff's station incident last night, so now we just have a free-range Kanima on the loose? Yay! Matt's death did however lead to the Sheriff getting his job back so... Stiles also thanked me for trying to keep his father safe and not telling him about everything that's REALLY going on. I did urge him to tell him himself before something else like this happens again.'_

Jesse put away her journal before her teacher saw and continued to pretend to pay attention in class until the bell rang dismissing them to their next class. On her way to her locker Jesse spotted Erica at her locker shoving something inside before looking around and walking away quickly.

"Erica!?" Jesse tried calling out to her as she attempted to push through the masses to get to her friend with no such luck. She hadn't seen or spoken to her friend in days, she had heard about 'the runaways' and tried to keep up to date on the rumors but information on her friend was scarce. When she got to her locker she eagerly opened it to find a note stuffed inside. Jess shoved it inside her pocket and took it with her to her next class, which they used to have together. Jesse wanted to read the note asap but decided to wait until she was in a place where she could be alone.

Jesse paid no attention at all to the class due to the pressing matter she could feel in her jeans back pocket. As soon as class was over she went to the library for her tutoring session with Kyle, who could hopefully catch her up on the government class she had just seemingly zoned out of. After 15 minutes of struggling through a worksheet Kyle leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

"Did you pay attention at all in class today?" he asked her only half kidding. Jesse was one of his 'easy' tutoring sessions he didn't mind helping, but today something was off. Jesse shrugged and blushed a bit not making eye contact.

"Sorry, I've had other things on my mind" she told him honestly. Kyle kept his gaze on her, waiting for her to continue talking. She rolled her eyes and continued half honestly "I'm just still kindof freaked out over the whole Sheriff station thing from last night" which she was, but she was more concerned about the supernatural goings-on than that. Kyle's brows rose in shock and leaned forward to speak quieter

"You were there? I heard the place got shot up like something out of a movie?" he asked in concern and curiosity. Jesse nodded her head finally looking up at him. Kyle didn't know what to say so he gave her a half smile and leaned back in his chair to stare at their unfinished worksheet. "Well, I'd say that's a good excuse as any to not focus on Gov." he joked trying to lighten her mood. Jesse couldn't help but crack a smile

"Thanks" she said honestly not really wanting to do anymore political studying. "So how's the job serach going?" she asked trying to change the subject. It was Kyle's turn to roll his eyes and look away as he hung his head off the back of his chair in exacerbated body language. "That great huh?" Jesse teased. Kyle sat up straight to look at her

"No one really wants to hire someone with no experience, but how am I going to get experience if no one will hire me?" he asked the philosophical question more aloud than to Jesse. Jesse understood his pain but couldn't really relate seeing as how she knew she always had a job with her mom's business if she wanted it. "And my girlfriend is getting on my case about not having a car to go on dates and it's just…." He cut himself off to not go into a rant in the middle of the tutoring center/library. Jesse leaned forward with a quizzical look on her face

"Well… Mr. Sanchez just passed away" she said thinking. Kyle gave her a weird look

"Ok? What does that have to do with me finding a job?" he asked almost teasing. Jesse rolled her eyes at her quizzical answer as well as his teasing nature.

"Mr. Sanchez worked for my mom, so that means there's a spot open" she told him giving him an earnest look. Kyle gave her an uneasy look not really wanting to insult the girls family business but not wanting to clean houses for a living. Jesse continued

"Yeah, my mom hires a lot of high school students and retiree's, Mr. Sanchez was an 80 year old retiree, and you wouldn't have to clean necessarily, lots of the places we do need landscaping or handyman stuff done, you could do that…" she tried reasoning. Kyle still had an uneasy look on his face but was now looking down at his hands considering it. "it wouldn't have to be a full time thing, you could just do it for a month or two to get experience and then get another job" she pointed out. Kyle was quiet for a few moments before leaning forward to ask quietly

"So I'd be like a handyman?" he asked still trying to convince himself. Jesse smiled knowing that she basically had him.

"Yes, still mucho macho" she told him with a soft giggle. Kyle smiled at her and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ok… can you like put in a good word for me before I apply?" Jesse rolled her eyes.

"Of course, our last handyman just 'left' so my mom will be happy with the quick replacement" she told him. Kyle thanked her before writing down his email and phone number to give to her mother before leaving to get ready for the championship lacrosse game.

Jesse was packing up her things when she phone went off. She quickly answered it to get rid of the loud noise while inside the library. She grabbed her bag and keys and rushed out of the large room while answering the call.

"Hello?" Jesse answered.

"Hey Jesse, it's John" said the Sheriff. Jesse smiled

"Hi John, what's up?" she asked, wondering why he was calling her before she even got to his house.

"I was thinking that tonight you could have the night off after last night" Jesse's smile grew wider

"Really? Thanks!" she said thinking of all the things she could be do now that she had free time.

"Of course, were you thinking of going to the game?" he asked in polite conversation. Jesse bit her lip in thought, she hadn't been to one all season and new that she should be there to support Stiles and Scott since they saved her life last night. She also needed to go out more according to Ms. Morrell.

"Why not" she answered feeling a lightness in her step as she walked back to her locker to put her government books away.

"alright, I'll see you there kiddo" he told her before hanging up. Jesse smiled and put her phone in her pocket where she once again felt the note from Erica poking at her. She looked around the empty hallway before leaning back against the lockers and sliding down it to sit on the ground. She carefully opened the note to see the handwriting she didn't realize she had missed until now.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'Erica explained everything, why she took the bite, why she followed Derek, why she wanted to be stronger. They then told me why she left me behind, it was to keep me safe after realizing how dangerous it all was. She said she was sorry… I don't know if I should be angry or forgive her at this point. I was always there for this girl through her panic attacks and seizures, and the one time I needed her she bailed… Erica then told me that she was sorry for bringing me into all of this, and told me that she wanted to find another pack besides' Derek's. She was bailing again… Erica was planning to leave tonight after the game with Boyd, they had heard of a new pack in the area and wanted to join them. I'm so pissed at her for giving up so easily. I am going to have so many trust issues after this… but she says there's another pack? This can't be good._

Jesse put the note away back in her locker when Abby ran into her and invited her to go to the game with her. Jesse was excited to be going with someone other than the Sheriff, nothing against him but she needed friends. The two girls agreed to take turns taking pictures with Abby's camera of the sports team, it wasn't their passion but at their last photography club meeting their 'homework' was to work on capturing movement. While their home team was warming up, each girl got a few good shots of their lacrosse sticks lying on the ground while the players were running. Abby took a few of them huddled together with their jersey numbers showing.

"These aren't that bad Jess, we could give these to yearbook?" Abby told her with a cocked eyebrow. Jesse scrunched up her nose at the idea but Abby persisted… relentlessly and annoyingly.

"Fine, if Beacon Hills wins this game we can give these pictures to the yearbook people" Jesse bargained after Abby's constant begging. Abby did a small victory dance in her seat before the game started.

"Don't get too excited Abby, what if they don't like our stuff?" Jesse reasoned, "Then we'll just be the losers who can't win at photography contests or get into the yearbook" Jesse said trying to humble her friend. Abby rolled her eyes

"So negative, Jess we are awesome photographers. I saw your underwater picture and it was amazing… this will work. Then our names will be listed in yearbook and it will be added out our experience credits when applying to colleges" Abby reasoned with her. Jesse hadn't thought of it that way, Jesse hadn't even thought about college for what or where she wanted to go. Lately it hadn't seemed important or necessary will everything that had happened. Jesse glanced down the bleachers to a familiar set of wide shoulders. The Sheriff was seated with Melissa a few rows below the two girls and Jesse made it a point to wave to him when he looked up.

"If you say so Abb's" Jesse said while waiting for the game to start. She watched the players huddle around coach before heading out to the field to start the game, she looked to the bench to see Scott and Stiles talking to each other looking serious. Jesse sighed and hoped that nothing 'sobrenatural' was about to happen at this public event, otherwise she would never leave her room again. Suddenly, Abby was hitting her arm and pointing out at the field

"Is that Stilinski?" she asked knowing that Jesse knew him. Jesse looked out at the field and saw number 24 spastically running out to stand on the field… _no way._

"Yeah, it is. Holy shit, Stiles is going to play" she said screwing her brows together in concern.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Abby asked wondering why Jesse wasn't being supportive of her friend.

"Not really…" Jesse replied through nervous chuckles "Stiles isn't that good" she informed her friend honestly. Suddenly she saw the Sheriff stand up

"My Son Is On The Field!" he cried out like a proud Papa. Jesse smiled at him as he embarrassingly sat back down next to Melissa and Lydia, whom had just joined them.

"Well... I haven't seen him play all season so maybe he's improved?" Jesse hoped for Stiles' sake.

"So your saying that we're basically never going to get our pictures into the yearbook?" Abby asked taking in their negative situation. Jesse opened her mouth but no reply came out as she shrugged and continued to watch.

Jesse asked for the camera so she could get 'photographic evidence' of Stiles _actually_ playing. Through her lens, she could see Scott was sitting on the bench looking out at the field nervously biting his thumb which made Jesse curious. She then swept across the field using the camera so see Jackson of all people was playing, sure he was the captain but he was also a murdering lizard-beast who no longer had a master. Something was happening, Scott should be out there keeping Jackson in check but was being benched.

Jesse quickly told Abby an excuse of wanting to get some better shots up close before getting up and walking down the bleachers towards the field. Jesse took of few shots of the game as well as the crowd and student section of bleachers before working her way over to Coach.

"Hey Coach" she said standing next to him with her camera. The older man looked over and down at her before looking back at the game

"What do you want Vital? Break my heart again?" he asked reminding her about how she quit the swim team right before championships. Jesse sighed and tried again

"Just wondering why your letting this team down as well?" she asked as casually as possible while also digging at him for letting the swim team lose, again.

"I don't need this from you right now Vital" Coach said walking away. Jesse rolled her eyes before walking after him

"Why won't you play McCall? He is your co-captain, and one of your best players I hear?" she asked cutting to the chase.

"It's not up to me, He's failing three classes, academic come first Vital" he told her before barking out at the players to run faster or something. Jesse looked over at the bench to see Scott looking at her in curiosity. Sure, she hadn't spoken to him at all since she had found everything out at the pool; and sure, she was still scared of his wolf-like tendencies. But, she knew he was still just a freaked out high school kid afraid to lose everyone, just like her. She could help with this.

"Coach…" she called out to him "you're dying out there, what if I promise to tutor Scott in all of his classes until his grades improved… would you play him tonight?" she offered. The coach stopped watching the game for a moment to look down at her.

"That's a real kind offer Vital, but I can't… school policy and what not" coach told her before walking away again. Jesse looked over at Scott once again to see him giving her a half grin and thankful shrug. _Did he just hear all that?! Right! Werewolf… improved senses of hearing and smell and what not._ Jesse shrugged back

"I tried, sorry Scott" She said in a low voice knowing he heard her. Scott nodded to her before a person also clad in Lacrosse gear and jersey sat down next to him causing him to turn around. It was Isaac, _why is he here? Didn't he leave with Boyd and Erica?... so if he's here ready to help Scott fight whatever is happening with the Kanima and Alllison's crazy hunter family, maybe Erica had a change of heart as well?!_ Isaac ran out to the field and Jesse began searching the stands for the tall stature of Boyd or the blonde hair of Erica.

Her search proved fruitless as she looked back to the field having not found her friend only to be met with a bone crushing sound of players hitting each other and then the ground. What was different about it though was that it was Isaac hitting his own teammates. Isaac tore through them like he was a mower and they were dead grass. All the extra bench players were out and a few were carried off the field before Isaac himself was taken out by an eerily calm Jackson; before the coach angrily walked over to her

"You promise to get his grades up?!" he asked her. Jesse looked behind the coach at Scott who nodded vigorously at her. Jesse looked back at coach and nodded herself, unsure of what was happening. Coach turned around and faced Scott.

"Alright, McCall get out there!" he said and handed Scott his helmet. Isaac made it so Scott could get out there and keep Jackson from murdering anyone. Melissa ran out there to talk to Scott before he headed out, Scott seemed to have a new sense of purpose in his stature as he walked out onto the field. Melissa came back and walked with Jesse back to the stands.

"Are you really going to tutor my son?" she asked incredulously while smiling. Jesse shrugged and smiled back. Melissa nodded at her before taking her seat by the Sheriff while Jesse continued up the bleachers to sit back by Abby.

"Get any good shots?" Abby asked not taking her eye off the game.

"Yup, and coach is still pissed at me for quitting the swim team" Jesse said sitting back down. Abby nudged her reassuringly and in solidarity before returning her attention to the game. Stiles kept fumbling the ball but Jesse was still more at ease with Scott out there. She was thankful for Isaac but it just got her thinking about Erica leaving, she was bailing, and she decided to tell her in a few shortly scribbled lines of notebook paper? She owed her more than that.

The Beacon Hills Cyclones were getting massacred. Jesse couldn't watch for longer than a few seconds at a time before another sack took one of there players down. Jesse pulled out her phone and started looking through her twitter feed as she started retweeting sad, deep, one-liner stories such as "the smallest coffins are the heaviest". In between each tackle or hit she would post another one sentence story that broke your heart, like how Erica had broken hers again. "Brought roses home, keys didn't fit", tackle, "Strangers, Friends, Best Friends, Lovers, Strangers", tackle, "One bullet is a lifetime supply", tackle, "Just introduced myself to mother again today", take down, "Dad left, a flag came back", vicious attack, "it's our fiftieth, table for one".

"Dude, my phone keeps blowing up! Will twitter just wait until after the game?!" Abby said next to her and checking her notifications. _oh right, she follows me…_ Jesse closed out of her twitter app to return her attention back to the game when her shoulder was assaulted by Abby hitting her; causing her to look up.

By some act of god, the ball landed on the ground in front of Stiles and everyone's breath hitched waiting and watching to see what he would do. _Run! Pick up the ball and Run Stilinski!_ Jesse screamed in her mind watching him. Apparently, Stiles got the memo because suddenly he picked up the call and started running towards the goal. _Stiles is pretty quick when he's scared_ , Jesse thought as she started to slap Abby's leg in panic. Stiles then stopped in front of the other teams' goal and began to look around for god knows what.

"What is he doing?" asked Abby with a higher pitched anxious voice.

"Throw it!" Jesse pleaded as she stared on in shock. She didn't want to watch him come this close just to get sacked again. Then, just as quickly as he stopped, he turned around and shot it into the goal. Jesse shot up and cheered with the rest of the crowed at the sudden turn of events in the game. "Yes! Go Stiles!" Jess cried out as she was so proud of him. Jesse looked down and saw the Sheriff doing the same, Standing and cheering for his son. Jesse and Abby became jumping and screaming idiots watching Stiles finally shine on the field as he scored goal after goal saving the game. That final whistle blew and Jesse went ecstatic running down to the Sheriff and hugging him while they jumped and cried with joy. Jesse hadn't felt this happy and filled with energy in a long time, she needed this.

The feeling didn't last long though as suddenly the lights on the field went out. A shiver of fear went down her spine as she knew something was happening, something bad was going to happen.

"Oh God.." she said besides the Sheriff who slowly tried to climb down from the bleachers holding Jesse's hand to help her. "Scott?!" she called out wondering, if he heard her, if he knew what was happening or could stop it. People began screaming and pushing, it was a miracle Jesse didn't fall as she watched other people tumble down the bleachers. _This was it, this was the moment that the werewolves were so tense about beforehand, someone was going to die._ Jesse could feel the Sheriff's grip around her tighten as they both tried to see what was going on. Then the lights came back.

Half of the field and stands were emptied as the rest were quickly clearing out. Out on the field there was a huddle of people around a body on the ground, a body wearing maroon jersey. _Dios mio! Stiles!_ Jesse began to panic as she and the Sheriff began to push their way through the crowd towards the huddle.

"Jackson?! What's happening?!" she heard a girls voice scream. Jesse looked over to see Lydia looking down at her ex-boyfriend unconscious on the ground. She let a relieved sigh at the knowledge that it wasn't Stiles before hearing the conversation to her left.

"He did it to himself?" Isaac asked Scott as they all looked at the bloody puncture wounds to the unconscious boy's abdomen.

"There's blood! Oh my god there's blood!" Lydia cried out, now crying. Jesse felt sorry for her having to witness this as Jesse looked on at the heartbreaking scene in front of her.

"He's not breathing" Melissa McCall said looking back at Coach who was freaking out and not being much of a help. Jesse watched as Melissa went into Nurse-mode and called upon Lydia to get down and help her try and resuscitate Jackson. _He sacrificed himself to save them… right?_

"Where's Stiles?" She heard from her right. Jesse looked over to see the Sheriff looking around at all the players in confusion. Jesse began to look at the faces around her as well looking for the spastic hero when she couldn't find him either. "Where's Stiles?!" John asked again sounding more distressed, Jesse stepped forward to calm him down seeing as how he is the Sheriff and people look to him for guidance. The Sheriff caught her eye contact and called out to her "Jesse, Where's Stiles?!" Jesse didn't have an answer to that and got more scared as she shook her head. The Sheriff then began frantically searching amongst the crowd of players calling out for his son, "Where The Hell Is My Son?!" Jesse reached out and grabbed his arm to pull him back to earth.

"John! Calm down, he's probably in the showers or something calming down from actually playing and scoring a goal. You need to calm down and help people through this ok?!" Jesse told him struggling to keep his gaze. The Sheriff's breathing was still ragged as he continued to look around frantically. "John!" she called out again jerking his arm as her voice split in fear. She finally got his attention as he nodded and starting steering crowds to the nearest exits as Jesse pulled out her phone to call Abby to make sure she was ok.

As the other patrolmen showed up, Sheriff Stilinski took charge and told them what happened and began directing the EMT's and medical providers as well as getting statements from those who stayed. Jesse called her mom and told her what happened at the game and said that she would be home later after giving her statement. Her mom of course freaked out seeing as how Jesse was now apparently just a magnet for danger but Jesse assured her she was find before hanging up.

Jesse walked over to the Sheriff who before she could open her mouth told her he was glad she was ok but that she should go home. Jesse rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

"Not until I know the Stilinski boys are ok" she told him with a forced half smile. She was trying to be strong for him but really she was scared about losing the only other friend she had since she was small. "I'll wait for you guys at your place, make some food or something since we didn't really get to have any last night" she said reminding him of the Sheriff station.

"You should go home Jesse" he told her again in a paternal tone.

"I'll meet you at your place some taco salad ok?" she said pulling her keys to her scooter out. John clenched his jaw before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"If Stiles is there, you call me ok?" he told her before walking away to finish handling the masses. Jesse nodded before getting on her rusty scooter and driving to the Stilinski's where she set about making a warm meal to come home to.

Externally she was cool, calm and collected in waiting for her employers to come home. internally, she was having a near panic attack worrying about her friend gone missing. She kept thinking of all the worst scenarios about him being hurt or dead, over and over in her imaginative mind. Once the taco salad was done she set the table and began walking around the house tidying things trying to keep her mind from worrying to no avail.

She was in the laundry room actually starting a load of Stiles' smelly workout clothes from practice when she heard the door open. She dropped the detergent and nearly ran down the hallway to the living room, where the front door was, to see the Sheriff come home alone. He gave her a look that said he had a long night and his search for Stiles was also fruitless.

"Smells good" he tried to say to lighten the mood. Jesse gave him another forced smile trying to keep it together as she ran a hand through her long hair to push it out of her face.

"Yeah um… dinner's ready if you want it" she said gesturing weakly to the table that had two places set for the Stilinski's. She looked down at her feet still bummed that Stiles hadn't shown up yet and was now getting scared. It had been nearly three hours since the game and nothing, she had a bad feeling about it.

"Let's wait for a bit huh?" the Sheriff said still trying to keep that torch of hope alive for his son to show up any minute. Jesse nodded and put the cover back on the still cooling casserole dish and went back to the laundry room. "Are you doing our laundry?" Sheriff asked from the top of the hallway. Jesse blushed and turned around to face him

"Yeah? I need something to keep my mind busy" she confessed and looking at anywhere but at him. Doing laundry was not in her job description but a part of felt like it was ok with the Stilinski's. John chuckled at her rubbed his eyes

"How many load have you done since you got here?" he asked curious and looking for a laugh

"um, like… three?" she admitted as she cheeks grew hotter. John let out a soft laugh and shook his head

"As long as my clothes are the same color when they come out as they go in I don't care" he said walking to head up the stairs. Jesse smiled and walked back to the laundry room to discover she had spilled detergent all over the floor. She wiped it up as best as she could with paper towels before just biting the bullet and began mopping the floor while the loads were running. After two more loads had finished and had been folded and stacked back into the hampers did Jesse leave the laundry room/utility closet to put the hampers back in their respective rooms. She had just set John's down on his bed when she heard the Sheriff's voice on the phone standing in what sounded like Stiles' room.

"… listen, If he- if he shows up in the hospital… ok thanks" he finished his phone call. Jesse's heart broke listening to him trying to find his son, his son who had done _a lot_ to keep him and her safe from a lot of supernatural activity. Jesse stepped away from the door and put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying. She didn't know why she was so worried over the spastic kid who wouldn't stop giving her head aches over things that terrified her… and who's clothes stank. _Because he's the only true friend I've got left… that knows everything_ , she corrected her own train of thought to not exclude Abby as her friend. Suddenly, she heard raised voices. Jesse stood up straight to listen if it was safe or not as fear quickly seized control of her heartbeat.

"-I'm gonna pistol whip those little bastards!" yelled out the Sheriff sounding intensely angry.

"Dad!?" came the other voice calming the Sheriff down.

"Stiles?" Jesse asked as she unfroze from her spot in fear and let hope rise in her chest as she went to the door to see what was happening.

"I just… I said it was ok…" she heard Stiles trying to tell his dad as she fast walked down the hallway towards the voices coming out of his room. Jesse whipped around the corner to see the Sheriff grab his son in a fatherly embrace and hug him. Stiles was there and he was ok.

Jesse decided that they needed their moment and continued down the stairs towards the kitchen to make sure their food wasn't cold. She had just set the casserole on the table when she heard footsteps come down the stairs and a smile spread across her face in anticipation.

"Mmm smells good" said the Sheriff as he passed her.

"Starving" Stiles said walking into the kitchen. Jesse looked up at him and the words and smile died on her lips. "What?" asked Stiles looking at her confused.

"What happened to your face?" she asked walking over to look at it. Stiles rolled his eyes and tried to walk passed her

"It's nothing" he told her trying to join his dad at the table.

"Nothing?!" she stated incredulously stepping back in front of him again blocking his path to the table and his food. John sent his son a knowing look from the table as Jesse then began ripping into him in half Spanish and half English about how freaked out they all were looking for him and how the people who did this were dead meat.

"Sit" she told him pointing at the chair. Stiles didn't say anything as he sat in the chair and let Jesse look at his bruised and cut face from getting hit multiple times. She knew this wasn't from some jock punks but wasn't going to say anything while the Sheriff was still there. Jesse finished cleaning his face and finally let Stiles eat when the Sheriff had to leave back to the station. The second he was out the door Jesse turned back to face him leaning on the table

"So, what really happened?" Stiles sighed but continued to stuff his face and talk at the same time as he told her about Gerard being in control of Jackson after he killed Matt. Then basically ordered Jackson to kill himself… Jesse's heart sank at the thought of someone else dying. Before Stiles had a chance, Jesse walked over and wrapped her arms around him tightly in a hug.

"I'm glad it wasn't you" she said softly before letting go "I've lost enough people lately" she stated out loud before grabbing her coat to leave.

"While I was in the basement… I saw Erica and Boyd down there" Stiles told her slowly while giving her enough time to process what he said and giving her a pitying look. Jesse stopped walking and nearly dropped her coat before turning to ask

"Are they ok?" Stiles nodded. "They weren't harmed, I told Scott and they're working on finding them now" Stiles told her. Jesse nodded and looked down at her shoes absorbing the information and processing her feelings. She didn't know if she wanted to feel worried about her friend, angry, or condescending in a 'I told you so' way… _running from your problems solves nothing._ Jesse nodded accepting the news; she still cared about Erica but she didn't know if she could forgive her.

"Do you know that she told me she was leaving in a note? Couldn't tell me to my face… I was there for her through years of seizures and panic attacks and she couldn't say goodbye to my face?" Jesse told him as Stiles sat there watching the fragile girl in front of him. He didn't want to upset her again after he had seen her verbally bitch slap other people and had just received a harsh 'talking to'.

"Sometimes saying goodbye to the ones we love is the hardest part of leaving" Stiles tried to offer an explanation. Jesse nodded understanding but refused to buy it, Erica owed her more than that. She let out a sigh and put it from her mind as she finally looked up at Stiles and smiled.

"You were awesome out on the field tonight" she complemented. Stiles raised his brows at her

"You were there?" he asked in shock, he had never seen her at a game before, at least this year he hadn't. Jesse nodded and looked back down at her feet.

"Yeah, your dad invited me… I took some pictures, hoping the yearbook will take them. Got some pretty good ones of you playing" she said laughing softly.

"Really?" he asked sounding excieted. Jesse looked up at him and smiled

"Yeah, I'll print them out and show you some time" she promised before shrugging on her coat. "Lydia was there" she also informed him, she and most of the sophomore class was well aware of his not-so-subtle crush on the girl.

"I saw" Stiles told her going back to his food. _You saw her but not me? Really Stilinski?_ She thought as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, she couldn't take her eyes off you is what I was going to say" she finished before walking out of the kitchen/dining room.

"wait, really?" Stiles called after her. Jesse giggled at his excitability but knew that Lydia was there for Jackson.

"Really…" she called behind her "text me any updates on the supernatural" she said before closing the door.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'_ _I just really need 1 normal night. After making sure Stiles was ok, all of my "he's my only friend' façade came off. I am way closer with John Stilinski than I am with Stiles Stilinski, I am way closer with Abby than I am with Stiles. I have to say though that it did kindof sting when he could pick Lydia freaking Martin out of a crowd and not me, but I digress. I got home and my mom once again smothered me and didn't let me out of her sight as we watched 'Star Wars episode IV', Daniel's favorite movie, the rest of the night because once again I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to be involved in any of this but the more I try to stay out of it the more I find my self trying to help. I ended up tweeting myself "Once you care, you're fucked". I also told my mom about Kyle for the job and she was happy I found her a replacement so quickly. I gave her his number and email before going to my room to "bed" where I just stayed up re-reading some of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Stiles did end up texting me updates about how Derek was now on their side, Allison is no longer bat-shit crazy but still broke up with Scott, Gerard is basically dead after being bitten by Derek; I didn't really understand that one but glad that our creepy/racist principal is gone. Jackson came back to life, somehow, and Lydia went back to him. I almost felt sorry for him but I refused to let go of my normal-ish ending to my night.'_


	8. The Next Chapter

_Dear little voices in my head,_

 _'Sophomore year was over and I was so happy it was, it was one of the most emotional train wreck anos de mi vida. Since school was no longer in session I spent a lot more time helping mi mama at work. Kyle had joined the team and quickly became a favorite for the little old ladies in the retirement community we cleaned. We started getting larger jobs for later shifts for big facilities like the hospital, some local businesses and the Animal Clinic; where I would 'tutor' Scott on the side. He was apparently failing three classes so I decided to help him English and Spanish, since I can speak both. I will admit I was a little shocked Scott actually took it seriously. I knew he wasn't the most estudiante, but I suggested that he actually read the summer reading list the new English teacher posted to get an understanding of the conceptual stuff. It started slow at first but he eventually started to really get into reading which made me so happy; I also recommended to get a calendar with a "word of the Day" and then try to use the vocabulary at least once during the day. With Spanish, all I did was start speaking a little Español here and there, little phrases he could pick up and start using in everyday speech, which I progressed to full sentences. We would lightly discuss parts of speech for both English and Spanish to understand the detailed, menial parts of language. Scott also showed me his 'wolf side' and the other abilities that came with "the gift", such as his hearing and smell where he could tell what I was feeling… it was kindof awesome. When I wasn't working or tutoring Scott, I spent as much time as I could out at Daniel's spot, camping on the beach and surfing. I was there either with my mom or alone almost every weekend. It was there that I took a few pictures on Abby's borrowed camera and sent them into a nature magazine where I got published. When I told my mom she was proud of me but reminded me that it wasn't something to pursue as a career; When I told the Stilinski's they immediately bought the magazine and asked for my autograph. I also gave them the few pics I had taken of Stiles at the lacrosse game… their hallways now had my art on them…no big deal.'_

It was the first day of Jesse's Junior year of high school and things were already taking a shit. She had had such a wonderful and relaxing summer and now nothing was going her way. She woke up and none of her clothes seemed to fit right or feel right, then her hair was a mess so she put it up in a messy bun; then her rusty scooter decided not to start. Jesse was freaking out about making a bad first impression on her new teachers, she wanted this year to be different academically.

Last year she ended up doing ok, but she had missed a lot of class and spent the rest of the year playing catch-up and trying not to die.

She finally found some jumper cables and started her scooter when she looked at the clock on her phone to see that she had fifteen minutes to get to class. She threw on her back pack and sped all the way to school. She was a block away when she saw a familiar pair of red and blue lights flashing behind her.

"Really?!" she cried out in exacerbation. She pulled over, turned off the motor, and put down the kick stand as she waited for the cop to get out of his car. Jesse turned around and saw a cute, young deputy hop out of his car… _he's new_. He came walking over and pulled his sunglasses off like some movies star to show his beautiful green eyes.

"License and registration please ma'am" Jesse momentarily gazed into his sparkling eyes but her frustration returned and she reached back to her backpack and pulled out her wallet to show her license and "road vehicle" papers, _let's just say this wasn't the first time a cop tried to tell her that her scooter wasn't 'road capable' or 'safe for roads'._

"What was the problem officer?" she asked trying to keep the hostility out of her tone, there was no way she was making it on time now.

"I clocked you going 30 in a school zone miss… _Vy-tle_ " he said mispronouncing her name. She rolled her eyes

"Did you think that maybe it's because I go to school here and now I'm late" she pointed out. The young deputy was looking at her license when he smiled at her and shook his head.

"Jesse? Like the Sheriff's Jesse?" he asked looked back up at her still smiling. _Maybe I can get out of this ticket by name-dropping._ Jesse nodded and crossed her arms as the young officer handed her license and papers back. "I'll let you off with a warning just because I've had some of your famous Taco-salad-casserole" Jesse blinked at him for a few moments not believing that she was getting off scot-free.

"It's Vee-tall" she said after him as he was making his way back to his cruiser. He looked back at her confused so she repeated herself like an idiot. "My name, you pronounced it wrong, it's Vee-tall like Spanish, not Vy-tle like the English word" she said, _Dios mio shut up! He must think I'm so stupid!_ The Deputy nodded and smiled at her

"Dully noted Miss Vital" he amended.

"Jesse" she said again, _SHUT UP!_ He smiled at her and nodded again before continuing.

"Deputy Jordan Parrish" he said before getting into his car. She nodded before putting her papers back into her back pack and once again starting her bike to go to school… when it stalled. Jesse tried again and again to start it when all her scooter did was sputter to life momentarily before dying once again. Jesse's cheeks were tinged bright pink as she slowly turned around to see Deputy Parrish already getting out of his car with a smile on his face

"Today is not your day, is it Jesse?" he called out as he went to his trunk and pulled out an electric starter kit. Jesse couldn't help but smile in embarrassment as he came over and opened up the font of her rusted scooter to try jumping her scooter. "Looks like your battery is old and rusting… might want to get that replaced soon" he told her as he wiped the rust from her battery off of his hands on his pants.

"Yeah… my Dad got it for me and he was usually the one who did the repairs on it" she said sounding more and more like a 'Mary-sue' in her head and hating it. Jesse was also surprised that she brought her father up at this point. Parrish nodded and thankfully didn't bring up her father as he watched the gages on the battery charger.

"Try starting it now" he told her standing up. Jesse stopped herself from staring at the particularly pretty police officer and started her moped. She smiled when it roared to life and looked up at Parrish to he had a smile of his own.

"Thank you" she said as he unattached his jumper cables from her battery.

"All in a day's work" he told her standing back up. Jesse nodded and closed the front of her scooter to get going when a shadow came overhead and she heard a large swarm of birds calling and squawking over her head.

"What the hell?" she asked aloud looking up at the sky and seeing the large mass of birds flying overhead in the direction of the school. "It's heading for the school" Jesse stated as she hopped on her moped.

"That doesn't look normal. I'll drive over there, you stay here" he told her also looking up at the sky. Jesse scoffed at him

"Um, I'm the one that has to get to school and I'm already late as it is" she said as she revved her engine. Parrish sighed

"Fine, drive behind me" he said hopping into his police cruiser and starting his car up. Jesse rolled her eyes at him trying to protect her like she was a damsel, _well he is a police officer Jesse, and those birds do look fucked up?!_

Jesse followed behind Parrish as they drove up the last block to the school where they saw the most outlandish and incredible scene. The entire large mass of black birds was circling the school and then tunneling down to attack one specific window. The kamikaze birds hit the glass or brick and then would then fall to the ground in a bloody mess, right where Jesse had parked. They could hear the screams of students as the ravens began to break through the glass. Jesse turned off her motor and hopped off her moped to stare up at the building.

"Jesse!" called out Parrish waving her over. Jesse didn't need to be told twice and ran over to his cruiser and hopped in the passenger side to avoid getting shit on, or having a dead bird fall on her. Parrish was already on the radio calling in back up and possible EMT's to the scene. Jesse pulled out her phone and called the Sheriff

"Jesse? Shouldn't you be in school?" The Sheriff said sounding disappointed. She was too shocked for a moment to respond, "Jesse?"

"Birds… There are all these birds attacking the school, they're breaking the windows and getting inside all Kamikaze style! It's like a Hitchcock film up in here!" she said her voice rising by the end freaking out.

"What? Calm down and say that again Jesse" the Sheriff asked as she could hear him grabbing his things to go to the school.

"These giant black birds are attacking the school… Parrish is here, you should hear it on the scanner" she said not wanting to say it again. She felt like she was in one of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales.

"I'll be there in two minutes" he told her before quickly hanging up. Jesse nodded still staring out the windshield in awe and slowly put her phone away.

"Backup is on their way" Parrish told her putting the receiver down.

"I called the Sheriff, he's coming too" she said glancing between his face and the odd sight that was currently happening to her school. He nodded then put a hand on her shoulder

"I'm going to go in there, I need you to stay here" he told her before hopping out. Jesse was good staying out of the raining dead birds.

"The supernatural crap couldn't hold off for one more day?" she asked to no one as she stared at the school as the volume of birds eventually died down and more police cars pulled up. Jesse didn't get out until she saw the Sheriff's car. Jesse hopped out and filled the Sheriff in on what she saw before being passed off to another officer to get her statement while the rest went inside to escort the possibly injured students out to the ambulances' that were just arriving.

Jesse looked over and saw the frazzled looking pack of Lydia, Allison, and Stiles all huddled together but staring off into space in shock. She walked over timidly to ask if they were ok.

"Jesse? What are you doing out here?" Stiles asked snapping out of it first. His breaking of the silence snapped the other's out of it too as the rest of the small group snapped their gazes over to her. She felt a little self-conscious since she only ever discussed supernatural things with Stiles or Scott before and now she was actually here with the group figuring things out as they happened… _Why me? Why today? What did I do to deserve this?!_

"I was just checking to make sure you guys were ok? I was outside and saw it happen, I called your dad" Jesse trying giving a complete answer so there wouldn't be any follow ups. Stiles just nodded accepting her answer while the rest of the group looked at her suspiciously. Jesse swallowed building up courage before continuing in a hushed tone "What the hell was that? It looked to be something in the supernatural department which is up your guy's alley?" she asked hoping they could give her a simple explanation as to what was going on so she could get over it and move on with her day.

"You told you're cleaning lady about this stuff Stilinski?" Lydia asked. Jesse glared at her as she felt heat rush to her cheeks in embarrassment and anger; _How dare this silver spooned bitch try to insult me when she has obviously never done anything for herself her entire life the self-righteous queen of Beacon Hills high, Lydia freaking Martin._

"He didn't have to tell me anything after Scott and Erika's not so subtle attempt at trying to keep being a lycanthrope a secret as well as your boyfriend tried to kill me twice" Jesse jabbed back. If Lydia's gaze could kill Jesse would be six feet under already. She scoped the Latina girl up and down sizing her up before deciding on whether or not to ruin her socially… _this girl doesn't have a social life._

"This isn't the first random animal attack either…" Stiles tried changing the subject back to solving what the hell is going on. He looked over at Lydia who rolled her eyes

"A deer ran into my car while Allison and I were in it" Lydia informed the Latina girl. Jesse looked a little confused while remaining cold towards queen-B

"People hit deer with their car's all the time? How was that one time supernatural like this?" She asked referring to the school.

"Because we weren't moving and it vaulted itself through the windshield committing suicide" Allison finished. Jesse raised her eyebrows in shock

"They committed suicide out of fear of something else out there, Scott said he could smell its' fear when we checked out the wreck" Stiles told her. Jesse looked over at him with her brows still raised

"You were there?" she asked wondering why he was in a car with the girl of his dreams, Scott, and his ex-girlfriend and she hadn't heard about it from either of the boys until now.

"We were driving separately" Stiles awkwardly mentioned looking between Allison and Lydia not wanting to bring up the awkward and weird encounter again.

"Wait… what were they so scared of that they would kill themselves?" Jesse asked not catching the awkward encounter between the others. Before they could respond their old, and newly reinstated, principal walked outside.

"Jesse? This isn't your class. Why are you out here?" he said waving her over. Stiles winced at her getting caught as she sighed and looked back at him

"catch me up later" before walking away to answer to her principal who apparently already knew her schedule before she did. She was given a 'slap on the wrist' but nothing serious as she was then sent back to class.

As she sat through the rest of her classes she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the supernatural happenings that were already wreaking havoc on the school. She wanted to do better academically this year, but it was the first day and all everyone was doing was going over the syllabi, _if it doesn't become a habit_ , she told herself.

All this chaos and random attacks from nature began to remind of a Portuguese folktale she had read about in one of her books called Saci. Saci was a mystical creature that appeared as a little African boy who wore a red cap and smoked a pipe and only had one leg who is seen by some as an evil trickster ghost or a playfully graceful spirit that likes to create mischief, especially at night. If Jesse recalled, she hadn't read the story in a long time, you could reverse his mischievous ways by capturing him and making a wish. This he would either grant and become a protector over you or grant your wish but then proceed to haunt you further and with a vengeance. With everything that she had heard as of late, why couldn't this be real as well?

She told Stiles the same thing after school when she met up with him while she was mopping the floors at his house. Now that summer was over she went back to her old work schedule of cleaning the Stilinski's after school and on weekends cleaning the Williams' and Chavez's and occasionally helping with the hospital or animal clinic on the late shifts if called for. Stiles took her folk lore into consideration as he proceeded to search the internet at the kitchen table for other possible supernatural creatures responsible for what was going on.

"Anything else happen then that I should be aware of then?" she asked looking over her shoulder at him as they both continued to work.

"Huh?" Stiles grunted at her while trying to read off his laptop screen.

"You know, anyone or thing that I should avoid in the hallways that is involved with this supernatural junk? Last year it was Jackson but from what I hear he moved to London to actually become an American werewolf in London" she finished rolling her eyes at the complete cliché that tool was.

"Yeah actually, Scott and I were with Derek before helping Isaac when Derek mentioned that there might be an Alpha pack coming" Stiles said glancing up at her every few seconds. Jesse stopped mopping to look over at him

"What?" she asked confused. Stiles sighed leaning back about to explain "What do you mean an 'Alpha pack'? don't all packs have an Alpha? Is this Alpha special or something?" She kept asking trying to understand.

"This is an entire pack made up of Alphas, no betas or omegas like Scott. All Alphas and then there is one leader that is some sort of super-alpha or something" Stiles explained still glancing between his screen and Jesse. Who not so long ago learned that it was better to just accept the impossible idea that monsters exist so she just nodded and continued moping slowly

"Well that sounds like a nightmare, does the pack have anything to do with the local animals freaking out like how the animals at the shelter used to freak-out when Scott walked in?" Jesse asked causing Stiles to blink this time in confusion and shock that she knew that and put it together so quickly.

"yeah, that's what Derek thinks anyway" Stiles confirmed dreading the next part he had to tell her. "Jesse… the reason Scott had to leave to go help Isaac is because he was attacked by the Alphas. Derek and he have been trying to hunt them down…" Jesse could sense the tone in Stiles' voice and stopped mopping, placing the mop in the bucket and facing him completely

"Why would Derek seek them out risking his only Beta's life?" Jesse asked wearily, she could tell she wasn't going to like the answer.

"To save his other two beta's lives" Stiles told her sympathetically now making direct eye contact.

"But… Erika and Boyd left to find another pack to get away from all of this, they don't want to be found…" Jesse tried reasoning "Why would their lives need saving if they found another pack that accepted them?" Jesse asked snow feeling dread crawl up her spine thinking of the fate of her runaway friend.

"They didn't find another pack, the Alpha pack found them and is keeping them somewhere… Derek and Isaac are trying to find them and now Scott is going to try and help" Stiles tried reassuring her. Jesse bit her lip and nodded at his reassurances holding back her tears of fear and worry for her friend until she got home. "We're gonna find them Jesse alright? Scott is going to find them and make sure she's ok" Stiles told her standing up to come comfort her. Jesse nodded still staring at the floor absorbing the information. Stiles stepped closer and it snapped Jesse out of her reverie as she whipped her head up to look at him

"I'm fine" she said as he turned away to grab the mop and bucket to dispose of the dirty water. She had finished everything else so she decided to go home. "You need anything else? Dinner? Or are you boys ok for tonight?" she asked putting on her jacker. Stiles wasn't hungry after watching Scott get his arm nearly burned off just for a stupid tattoo.

"I'm good, thank you but um…. I think my dad forgot his dinner if you want to run that to him on your way home? I'm probably just going to crash" Stiles told her. Jesse nodded and went to the fridge to grab the Tupperware container of 'Caldo de Queso' soup she had made for them the previous night.

"Night Stiles" she called behind her as she walked out shoving the container in her bag.

"Night Jesse" Stiles called after her still standing there feeling bad that he had to deliver bad news on a day that he had already assumed was a bad one for her since she was late to school on their first day and she looked rather haphazardly put together today.

 _Dear whomever is listening,_

 _'I told myself that I wasn't going to worry about Erika as she made her bed in a werewolf den and now she had to lie in it… but now that I know that she's be taken captive this whole time I've decided to break that promise. After I dropped off the Sheriff's dinner, and ran into that sexy Deputy Parrish when I just happen to have enough extra soup. Jordan Parrish is always very thankful and smiles and his eyes and yeah…'. When I got home however, even his shiny green eyes couldn't keep me from stress crying my eyes out worried sick over that stupid puta. I tried to occupy myself by researching new batteries for my moped, which are hella expensive since it's a vintage model, and researching the Saci stories. I knew that it was no longer the cause of what was happening but it was on my mind so I started re-reading them._

The next day Jesse realized that her rusty scooter was going to start needing a jump every morning just to get to school. She was trying to find ways to save up some money to get a new battery but all her options would take time and she didn't have a lot of it going by how her mornings were progressively growing more time-crunched. At school, there was small talk among the pack since Isaac had returned about how to find Erika and Boyd.

Jesse was glad they were all taking this thing seriously; but another part of her, the part that was still shaking terrified in the sheriff's holding cell, still just wanted to let them handle this. She just wanted to be able to take the back burner and not be fighting for her life every other minute… she wasn't stupid, she knew she had no real skills to contribute. She just wanted to be able to curl up and read a book for once, and focus on her grades and photography

Speaking of which, Abby had just been published in the local newspaper and got paid fifty dollars. Jesse was happy for her and the two had a mini celebration in the hallway when they first saw each other. Jesse got an idea for a future business endeavor and told Abby to put a good word in for her so she could earn up enough money for her battery.

Abby was now a Senior but they at least had the same lunch a few classes together now, which Jesse was happy about. Not as happy however, as her economic class made her when Stiles made a blundering fool of himself when an XXL condom fell out of his pocket during class. Jesse died silently in her seat of laughter for the rest of class. Stiles had tried talking to her in the hallway but she couldn't look at him without laughing, at which Stiles gave up and walked away.

Her happiness didn't last long however because soon the Sheriff caught her eye and she quickly sobered up. _This is probably what Stiles wanted to tell me…_ If the Sheriff was at the school, then that meant only one thing… trouble.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _'I was informed that another girl I knew briefly growing up via the Stilinski's, Heather, went missing. What if it was those alphas? What do they want with two freshly turned betas and a regular teenage girl? At least Heather was normal from what I could remember, I only had met her a handful of times when Stiles, she, and I were babysat together before Claudia Stilinski died. I hoped that whatever those Alpha's wanted that they would eventually give me back my friend and Heather… I don't know if I could handle losing Erika permanently.'_


End file.
